Sharon Bragg

I was born, Sharon Kay Basler, the daughter of Billy Dale Basler and Beatrice June Williamson Basler, on November 19, 1942 in Lake City, Iowa. My father was stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas in the Army Air Corps and came home on leave when he heard of my birth. I was the oldest of three children. My sister is Sheryl and my brother is Bill Jr. I lived in several places during my childhood, first because of military service, then as my dad farmed in Iowa and had jobs in Oregon and Iowa. We moved to Lake Park, Iowa, when I was in seventh grade and after finishing school there, I completed nurses training at the Methodist Hospital in Sioux City. Nurses earned more in Minnesota, so I moved to Minneapolis in 1963 to take my state board exams and work in the intensive care unit of the University of Minnesota Hospitals. This was not a happy nursing experience and I did not stay long. On June 6, 1964, I was married to Thomas Milan Bragg, Jr. at the Methodist Church in Lake Park. Twenty-five years of our married life were spent in George, Iowa, where we owned a weekly newspaper. It was here that our two sons, Tom and Kirby, were raised. As the boys grew up, I got back into the work force and very much enjoyed working outside the home. Over the years, I worked nights in a nursing home, served as a part-time city clerk, managed a multi-county family planning agency, worked as director of a county public health office, then worked for many years for the Iowa Department of Public Health, retiring in December 2004. In May, 1988, we sold the newspaper in George and moved to Methodist Camp (now known as Monarch Cove) in Spirit Lake. After 20 years in that home, we moved to a loft in the East Village of Des Moines, Iowa. I had two great wishes for my life and I feel fortunate that both of them came true. First, I wanted a family. Secondly, I wanted to live to see my children come to adulthood. I feel blessed to have two sons that are wonderful, good citizens. That is what we wanted most of all. They, and their families, are our greatest joy. Sharon died at Taylor House Hospice, Des Moines, Iowa on May 29, 2010, one year after being diagnosed with uterine cancer.