Shirley Scott has gracefully excused herself from life’s grand tea party, trading her place at this earthly table for one where the silver surely needs no polishing. Shirley was born on October 19, 1927, in Wishek, North Dakota, to Irene Pritchard and Fred Roehm.
When Shirley was twelve, her family uprooted to Great Falls during the Great Depression. In 1945, she graduated from Great Falls High School before attending the University of Montana, where she studied history and pledged Kappa Alpha Theta.
After returning to Great Falls, Shirley found herself at a conference listening to a handsome lawyer named Bill Scott, who had recently returned from the European and Pacific theaters of WWII as a naval officer. As Shirley told the story, she craned her neck to catch a glimpse of Bill’s ring finger, only to have her view obfuscated by a bouquet of flowers.
Fortunately, Bill had spotted the big, beautiful blue eyes studying his hands and asked around town to find her. Unfortunately, once found, Shirley declined his advances, citing the growing pile of ducks she had to pick for her father. Undeterred—he was an avid duck hunter himself—he asked again. More ducks, she said. And again. The season’s fowl fully plucked, she enthusiastically agreed. They began their 64-year marriage on August 23, 1947, at the Congregational Church in Great Falls, with five children to follow. Shirley never picked another duck.
In the early '60s, the family’s Whitefish Lake cabin did not have a washer and dryer so during the summers Shirley would pile the kids into the red Suburban (and their friends and cousins—more people fit back then, pre-seatbelts) and drive into town to do the laundry. After dropping the children off at the library, she would commandeer an entire row of washing machines and then sit with her book, savoring the rare moment of peace and quiet.
Shirley was a collector at heart, beginning with stamps and books as a child before moving onto the heavier pursuits of silver, cut glass, and art. She was a passionate antiques collector, hunting with an appraiser’s eye, but also had a soft spot for dolls, toys, and any other object that spoke to her love of beauty, history, or sense of whimsy. She amassed a vast library that included English literature, history, politics, and glossy picture books about the things she collected.
Shirley was active with the CM Russell Museum and the History Museum and co-founded an Antiquing Club with her sister Frannie. A proud member of P.E.O. for 66 years, Shirley served as Chapter I president in 1968 and cherished the friendships she made among her P.E.O. sisters.
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