Shirley Marie Smelser, age 82, passed away on Wednesday May 30th, surrounded by her loving children at Benefis in Great Falls. She was born on December 13, 1940, to Margarithe and Julius Somerfeld in Great Falls, MT. She grew up in Gordon and she attended the Heveron School for her grade school years, and when it closed, she attended the brand new Neuman School for Junior High. In high school, she was active in Walther League, a Lutheran church group, where she met James "Jim" Smelser. She graduated from Power High School in 1958. After graduation she worked at Westside Bank in Great Falls.
Shirley and Jim were married on March 20, 1960, in Great Falls at Peace Lutheran Church. They lived on their farm southeast of Power. Together Jim and Shirley had four children: Kirk, Keith, Kris, and Kaye. All their children attended Power Schools from kindergarten through twelfth grade. Shirley and Jim spent countless hours, at many of the numerous school activities, following and supporting their kids. Living in a small community, they always had lots of their children’s friends around the farm, which meant that they had a lot of kids in the school calling them "Mom and Dad"...and for that reason they would never answer to Jim and Shirley, when a kid was trying to get their attention!
Once they started their family, Shirley was a full-time homemaker and helping with the family farm and ranch. In 1981, she started her 27-year career with H & R Block. In her spare time, she enjoyed tending to her favorite flowers: roses, iris’, gladiolas, and peonies. She spent a lot of time sewing and embroidering. Her passion for sewing, I am sure, came from the countless hours mending her sons’ jeans and coveralls. She enjoyed caring for her faithful companion, Molly dog and all her numerous farm kitties. Shirley also had a very impressive collection of plates. Wherever they traveled, she always found a new plate, to add to her ever-growing collection. Shirley was also a very good card player and pinochle was her favorite card game. Her children and grandchildren always tried hard to beat her and there was always a fight to see who could partner Grandma Shirley, so they had a chance of winning. Kris remembers beating her one time and the next Christmas she gave him a new deck of pinochle cards. He never won again!
Shirley lived on the family farm until her death. She was blessed with 13 grandchildren, and they kept her very busy. She worked hard to never miss their school activities and sporting events. She was also active with the Power Senior Citizen Center and Peace Lutheran Church in Great Falls.
She is survived by her four children and 13 grandchildren: Kirk (Carrie) KC and Brieanna Smelser, Keith (Valerie) Mike, Jon, Jordan, Hope, Veronica, Brady, and Emory Smelser, Kris (Stacey) Spencer and Mackenzie Smelser, and Kaye (Greg) Samantha and Jamie Franczyk.
To read the complete obituary and share condolences, click here to visit the Croxford Funeral Home website.
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