Photo by Bill Stokes
By Bill Stokes
Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that on a beautiful May Sunday in a beautiful place—Olbrich Gardens, the keeper and Phyllis joined the clan and friends to say goodbye to a beautiful person—Shirley, the keeper’s brother Orville’s wife who checked out several months ago after a long life of love and dedication to humanity and its attendant creatures.
Shirley’s boundless embrace of life saw her through incredible personal health problems, dealing unflinchingly with Orv’s military profession, and then immersing herself in life on the home farm where caretaking aging Mom and Dad was only part of what she took on. There was also her reminder to Barron County residents that the creatures they lived with deserved consideration beyond the bottom line, and there was need for a humane society.
As Shirley’s brother-in-law, the keeper had the sense that he was viewed by her with some apprehension and perhaps with the unstated feeling that he should maybe salute Orv and call him “sir.”
But like the lost dogs and stray cats and everyone in Shirley’s life, there was never any doubt about her love for them, and that includes a “rogue” brother-in-law.
Shirley left the crazy world a better place by her beautiful presence and she will be sorely missed.
