Shirley Mae (Watkins) Wells |
| Posted 2023-10-31 by Pat R |
| Wickenburg Sun (Wickenburg, Arizona) Wednesday, May 10, 2023, p, A-6 Shirley Mae Wells (83) passed away April 30, 2023, at her home in Wickenburg. She was born November 25, 1939, in Phoenix to Dick and Maebelle Watkins. She is survived by her husband of more than 64 years, Joe Wells, Sr.; her daughter Shelley Wells; sons Joe Wells, Jr. (Conni Wells) and Brandon Wells; granddaughters Heather-Jo Wells (Jake Morton), Jessica Rae Wells (Lance Slattery); and great-granddaughters, Dacey-Jo Morton and Maebelle Lynn Morton. She is also survived by brother Richard Watkins as well as many nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends. As a child, she lived in several cities, including Prescott, Williams, and Blythe, where she met the love of her life, Joe Wells, Sr. They dated in high school until she graduated May 29, 1958, from Blythe High School. She was quoted as saying "I can't wait to graduate so I can do anything I want to." They were engaged that same night at the river's after-graduation party. After high school, she went to modeling school in Phoenix. She then worked as a switchboard operator at the old Blythe telephone company until she and [Joe] were married on February 7, 1959. In October of 1959, they welcomed their first child, Shelly. Then, in December of 1961, their first son Joey was born. Seven years later, in October of 1968, Brandon was born. Shirley dabbled in real estate and passed her real estate license test and, while dabbling in it, learned about the small, rural community of Ramona, CA. While in Ramona, Shirley discovered she liked writing. She was hired to write for the Ramona Home Journal, and did some freelancing from 1982 right up to the week before they moved to Arizona. Her writing career was very educational along with meeting numerous prole who became lifelong friends. She did not know her life's potential was talking and writing. She would meet and interview people of all ages and ranks, including celebrities. She even received a call from the White House and a letter from the George H.W. Bush after writing about a local veteran who flew with him and served as his gunner during WWII. It was the start of the two being reunited after nearly 40 years. By the time they made their retirement move to Wickenburg, Shirley was committed to solely writing her and Joe's family histories. She accomplished a great deal for the Well's history and accumulated interesting knowledge on her ancestors. She teased that Joe's great- granddad fought the Yankees in the Civil War and her great-granddad fought the Comanches. She loved history and loved writing about them. Besides collecting information about their ancestors, Shirley also collected nicknames. Her loving husband calls her "Poopsie," her two granddaughters call her grandma "M" and her great-granddaughters call her grandma "Charley." She collected and loved all animals and they loved her back. Shirley was loved by so many family and friends. One of the sayings she taught her granddaughters was "It's nice to be nice;" something by which Shirley lived. Even though her early plans of "doing anything I want to" went awry, she said "I have been blessed with receiving everything I ever wanted; a wonderful husband, kids, granddaughters, great-granddaughters, and a daughter-in-law, who are loving, loyal, patriotic, and sensitive to the needs of others and animals. To me, those are the most important and meaningful virtues of life. I feel that I have everything...what more could I ask for?" No funeral services will be held, but a celebration of life will be held in the near future. |
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