Obituary: St. John, Shirley J.
Age 77
Shirley was born in Rosalia June 3, 1935, the youngest child of Dick and Louise Squires.
She was raised in Rosalia and graduated from Rosalia High School in 1953.
She married Don St. John on September 27th of the same year and they lived and farmed in the Rosalia area for 47 years until moving to Spokane in August of 2000.
She is survived by her daughter, Teresa (Woodie) Shipman of Kennewick, WA; sons, Doug (Debbie) St. John of Rice, WA and David (Cathy) St. John of Rosalia, WA; sister, Marilyn Whitman of Vancouver, WA; eight wonderful grandchildren who she loved and supported.
Shirley was preceded in death by her husband Don, daughter Melinda, brother Dick Squires, and sister Dorothy Hollaway.
Shirley loved music and enjoyed playing the piano and organ at the Rosalia Christian Church, Malden Community Church and Covenant Christian Church in Spokane.
She played for many funerals and special occasions and loved playing duets with her daughter Melinda.
Shirley also enjoyed sewing and made a lot of her kids’ clothes when they were growing up.
She loved reading and got her kids interested in reading at an early age.
She was a substitute librarian at the Rosalia Library for 12 years and head librarian for four more.
She would have stayed at the library longer but Don retired and they wanted to do some traveling.
In 1994 they spent their first winter in Arizona and fell in love with it.
They bought a trailer in Mesa, AZ and became snow birds for 10 years until health issues came along.
Shirley and Don loved following all their grandkids’ events, something Shirley kept doing even after Don’s passing.
Memorial contributions in memory of Shirley may be made to: The Voiceless Homeless Choir at 2308 E. 57th Ave, Ste#1, Spokane, WA.
99223.
A memorial service for Shirley will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 23rd at the Rosalia Methodist Church with a luncheon to follow in the church hall.
SCHANZENBACH FUNERAL HOME, ROSALIA, WASHINGTON.