Shirley Wanda (Parker) King |
| Posted 2019-06-27 by Pat R |
| The Blade (Toledo, Ohio) Monday, May 27, 2019 Shirley Wanda King (1923 - 2019) Our mother--and aunt--Shirley Wanda King, age 95, finished her race as one of God's trusted servants on May 7, 2019, at the Green Diamond Home under Hospice of the Valley care in Phoenix, Arizona. A resident of Arizona since 1984, she was the youngest of four children of Jay Arthur Parker and Elsie Erna (Zuehlke) Parker born May 19, 1923 at home in the prairie farming town of Britton, South Dakota. She reached adulthood during the Great Depression but never knew she was poor, graduated from Britton High School in June of 1941, and attended Aberdeen State Teacher's College in South Dakota. On January 23, 1943 she married her high school sweetheart Donald Edward King in Douglas, Arizona, prior to his flying off to the war in North Africa and Europe. She was a loyal and dedicated wife and mother as the King family migrated to Toledo, Ohio in 1949 and grew to four children. Molding her children to each be successful in their own lives was her greatest pride and joy, as well as being a part of her grandchildren's lives--which sustained her throughout her life. To this day we marvel at her abilities to raise four very different children while her husband flew corporate aircraft across the world, and still keep her sanity. She remembered every detail of growing up in South Dakota, to her very last day. She remembered every neighbor in Toledo as she watched their families--and the Bowsher south end of town--grow. Her particular skills were her sewing masterpieces, her singing, her gardening, and her cooking. And deep in her heart she always wanted the best in life for her nieces and nephews--she loved them all. She was preceded in death by her husband, Donald in 1997; parents, Jay and Elsie; her sisters, Isla (Jack) Lucas and Jean (John) Kennedy; brother, Virgil (Evangeline) Parker; nephews, John Lucas and Allan Jackson; and grandson, Nick Roosa. She is survived by her sister-in-law, Mary (Kenneth) King of Scottsdale, AZ; children, Carole (Richard) Malko of Black Canyon City, AZ, Kevin (Sherri) King of Holt, MI, Connie (James) Goss of Sun City West, AZ, and Kenneth (Sue) King of Phoenix, AZ. She is also survived by 13 nieces and nephews, 11 grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren and one great-great grand-child. Shirley's family would like to thank Hospice of the Valley for their guidance, kindness, and compassion, and a special thank you to Lindsay and Edith Ailiff for her excellent care in her last days. Services were held at the Shepherd of The Hills Methodist Church in Sun City West, Arizona, with inurnment in the church columbarium adjacent to her husband. Well done, mom. Very well done. Please watch for us when we join you. See Also: Find A Grave |
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