Charles Wallace Shirley
Charles “Chuck” Shirley went to be with the Lord peacefully on July 25. He was born in Detroit, Mich., on March 8, 1927 and died July 25, 2019 at his home in Keizer, Ore., surrounded by loved ones.
Chuck met his first wife, Marna, in Detroit, MI at Highland Park High School in June 1943, when he returned from Mississippi, to the area where he had grown up. They planned their church wedding the day after her high school prom, June 10, 1945. After he completed his 20-month inducted U.S. Army service in Jan. 1947, they moved to Rochester, NY.
In early 1951, they moved to Santa Rosa, Calif., with their children, 3-year-old Karen Ann, and 1-year-old David Charles. That was the beginning of a wonderful 40 year stay in the central California area. Chuck’s start in banking led them from Santa Rosa, to Napa and Seaside (Monterey Peninsula area).
In 1974, they bought a block in an old mining town in Coulterville, Calif., near Yosemite National Park. Chuck was hired as Mariposa County Assessor’s Office north side property tax appraiser and spent 13 years there until his retirement in 1990. Chuck served as a volunteer firefighter from 1974 to 1991 and was recognized in 2000 for his work with the Coulterville Fire Brigade.
Over the years of marriage, Marna and Chuck visited all 50 states of the country and spent two weeks sailing the warm waters of the Virgin Islands. After retirement, they celebrated their 50th anniversary on a 14-day, eight country, tour of Western Europe.
Chuck met his 2nd wife Patricia “Patty” Shirley (Beard) in 2012 in Keizer. They were married July 22, 2014, in a small ceremony with good friends in Reno, Nevada.
Chuck was an avid bowler from age 16. Patty shared Chuck’s love of bowling and they met many great friends while bowling together. They took many trips and traveled across country on more than one occasion. In 2012, Chuck and Patty traveled to Sault Saint Marie, Mich., where they toured the Valley Camp Museum, once a ship, known as Louis W. Hill, that Chuck sailed on the Great Lakes while in the Merchant Marines.
Chuck was involved in many churches, fraternal and service clubs, and charitable and community building projects over the years.
Chuck will be missed by his loving wife Patty, his family, relatives and friends across the country. He was dearly loved by everyone. He was preceded in death by son David and daughter Karen and first wife Marna. He’s survived by his loving wife Patty, granddaughter Sharon Lewis-Hahn, in Newport, Ore., and grandsons David Hahn and Charles Hahn in Susanville, Calif., and seven great grandchildren.
A Celebration of Life will be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 17, at the First Christian Church, 685 Marion St., NE, Salem. He will be interned in the Willamette National Cemetery in Portland.
Contributions may be made to the church, Willamette Valley Hospice or charity of your choice.