Shirley Mae Mohr, age 84 of Belle Fourche, died Tuesday, January 2, 2024 at the Rolling Hills Healthcare in Belle Fourche.
Celebration of Life Service was held Friday, January 5, 2024 at Leverington Funeral Home of the Northern Hills in Belle Fourche. Visitation was one hour prior to the service and Interment was at Oak Ridge Cemetery.
Shirley Mae Beckman was born January 24, 1939 in Bowman, North Dakota to George and Margaret (Gore) Beckman. She lived and attended school in Buffalo, SD. She married John Friederich Mohr on April 2, 1960 at Grace Lutheran Church, Deadwood, South Dakota. They were loving parents to 2 daughters, Melodey (Mohr) Zupan and Penny (Mohr) Paddack. Shirley lived in Deadwood and moved to Belle Fourche after Johnny passed away in 1995.
Shirley was employed as a telephone operator in Deadwood during her early years. Being one of the last to leave Deadwood during the major forest fire in 1959 due to her important role with the tele- phone company , she had been taken out of town by a helicopter when it came time for her and others to evacuate. Shirley was a stay-at-home Mom for her girls, as well as a babysitter for neighborhood children. When she returned to the work world, she was employed at Katon’s Korral, Mother Lode Depot, and Thunder Cove. We all learned the im- portance of respecting service staff at any business and the importance of “tipping”. Shirley enjoyed traveling, having made a few trips to Seattle with her family and enjoying road trips with her brother Jerry and sister-in-law, Mary Jo. Her favorite vacation had to have been to Graceland, home of Elvis Presley. She was an Elvis fan to the very end! Shirley received great joy from her family, including grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Shirley was beautiful to the end. She had a great smile, a wonderful laugh and a good sense of humor. She was always dressed nicely. She was an amazing cook and baker, well known for numerous dishes. Shirley made the best pie crusts, especially sour cream raisin pie and lemon meringue pie. She made and shared her grape dessert recipe with many and made an incredible angle food cake from scratch! She enjoyed hosting family and friends. Our family spent many a Sunday afternoon after church at Johnny and Shirley’s, having lunch then the whole family playing 500 Rummy or marbles!
Shirley was preceded in death by her parents; her stepfather, Henry Hanson; her husband Johnny; Her sister Margie Fischer & her brother, Jerry Beckman. She is survived by her children Melodey (Zack) Zupan of Belle Fourche, Penny (Mark) Paddack of DeBary, FL, grandchildren Desirae (Sage) Foster of Orange City, FL, Chanz (Brittany) Paddack of Orange City, FL and great-grandchildren Mia Paddack and Reagan Foster of Orange City, FL.
A special “thank you” to _Stillwater Hospice for all their care and support.
