Shirley Joan Ford

Shirley Joan Ford, 91, passed away at Shepherd of the Valley on March 12 with her family by her side. Born March 9, 1935, in Douglas, Wyoming to Joseph and Nettie Schilling – the family later moved to Casper, Wyoming. Graduating from Natrona County High School in 1954, Shirley met Glen “Babe” Ford and they were married August 19, 1953 and raised two children, Steve & Merry. They later divorced, but remained friends the rest of Babe’s life, often going fishing with Babe, Merry & Christopher.

Shirley worked in the banking industry at Western National, Wyoming National, Provident Federal S&L and finally retiring from Key Bank and met many people throughout her career. She enjoyed planting flowers, bowling and playing softball with friends. She volunteered at Casper Neighborhood Housing and with friends Dee Smith, Katie Brummond & Jane Kinghorn (also known as the Fearsome Foursome) helped with Paint Your Heart Out, recruiting volunteer teams in town to assist with painting seniors’ houses. Mom loved baseball and would critique each Rockies game over the phone with her sister-in-law June.

Shirley went to Graceland with Merry in April 2012, and it was a trip of a lifetime. Mom loved Elvis and listened to his gospel music throughout the day of her passing. Steve took mom to the Botanical Gardens in Denver August 2015, she raved about the trip and all the different plants & flowers, which were her favorite and helped with her flower gardens at home.

Grandma had a thing for flare in her own way. There was an excessive amount of decorations for every holiday, especially Christmas! She had her own little Griswold house on 22nd street. She had enough lights to decorate at least 3 houses and that’s after she gave me 3 or 4 sets. She would try to do as many of the decorations herself because I believe it made her happy. She loved her wind chimes, the porch was covered in them. She used to sit out in the summer and read, I believe the sound was relaxing for her and she loved being in the sun and enjoying the summer weather.

Grandma also loved birthdays. She made cakes for the great grandkids every year and when you have 4 of them, that’s a lot of cakes over the years. She would get elaborate with the decorations, anywhere from 2 layers and up to a 5 layers one year that sported a different color for each layer. There was even a giant rabbit that was made with coconut shavings. She loved giving all her grandkid’s gifts just to see them happy and tear into the paper.

To make what could be a novel short, she loved to see people happy. She loved to do the little things that would bring smiles and in turn became the big things for lots of core memories for this grandson and great grandkids. She loved the oohs and awes as the kids came up to get candy for Halloween. In short, grandma would do just about anything she could for her family, just about anyone for that matter and the only currency she wanted in return were smiles and happiness. Holidays and birthdays may have lost a little bit of luster now that she is gone, but they will always be happy because of the memories we have of her. We all love you grandma, and you will be dearly missed but know the stories will continue for as long as I can tell them.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother Clark Schilling, sister-in-law Verba Barnes and brothers-in-law Cecil “Bud” Ford and Burl Dean Ford and ex-husband Glen “Babe” Ford.

Shirley is survived by son Steve, daughter Merry (Scott), grandson Christopher Koepp (Michaela), great grandchildren Lucas, Matthew, Ashton (Amylia), Brendan, Ava & Jase and great-great grandson Oryan James. Sisters-in-law June Cowger, Thea Ford and Joan Schilling as well as numerous nieces & nephews.

Cremation has taken place, a celebration of life will be announced at a later date, as well as internment of her ashes with her parents at Memorial Gardens.

The family would like to thank the staff at Shepherd of the Valley along with the hospice team from Enhabit for the care and compassion given during this difficult time.

Per her wishes, in lieu of flowers donations can be made to American Diabetes Association or the American Cancer Society.

To share a memory of Shirley or leave a special message for the family, please visit the guestbook below.