Shirley Jean Brothers

Shirley Brothers, long time Waco resident, died peacefully on Sunday, December 13, 2020. The family will celebrate a private funeral and will arrange a memorial service and celebration of Shirley’s life at a point in the future when the dangers of COVID-19 have subsided. Shirley was born on September 1, 1923, in Cherryvale, Kansas, the oldest of three children. Her father, Paul Carl, was a pharmacist and owned one of the few drug stores in town. She grew up around the drug store in depression-era Kansas and has fond teenage memories of working at the drug store’s soda fountain. Shirley studied psychology and graduated from the University of Kansas, the third generation of college graduates in her family. During the war years, she worked as a secretary at the nearby Army Air Corps flight training base. In June 1947, she married Bob Brothers, also from Cherryvale. They started their family in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, where Bob worked as an engineer with Phillips Petroleum. The family moved to Waco, Texas, in 1953 when Bob helped open the Rocketdyne plant in McGregor. Shirley and Bob took joy and satisfaction, and more than a few gray hairs, raising 3 active sons. She was always involved in PTA and scouts, school field trips, Little League, a myriad of after school and summer activities, and the mischief of her boys and a flock of neighborhood kids. Through it all, Shirley instilled in her sons a great love and respect for learning, science, and for Mother Nature and the outdoors. More than that, Shirley practiced and inspired deep and genuine respect, compassion, and sense of service to people less fortunate, regardless of their station in life. In 1967, Shirley joined Texas Employment Commission and quickly became the Waco office’s expert in helping the hard-core unemployed find training, work, and a productive place in society. She also handled its Job Corps program and was heavily involved in working with the seasonal influx of migrant farm laborers. Following her retirement, Shirley devoted herself to a variety of civic causes around Waco, especially after Bob died in 1993. She served across a wide range of community service organizations - as a long-term board member of Waco’s Latin American Center, as volunteer at Planned Parenthood, Caritas, and PEO, for example. She drove a Meals on Wheels delivery route until after she turned 92, when health considerations forced her to curtail these activities. A major focus of Shirley’s life involved First Presbyterian Church, Waco, where she has been a member since moving to Waco in 1953. She served as deacon, Sunday School teacher and youth fellowship advisor, and was an active volunteer in the full range of Church programs and activities. Shirley loved her house and made sure it was a welcoming home. The house was a gathering place for her sons and their friends during high school and college years. It became an anchor point for her family as they grew to include daughters-in-law, then grandchildren and great grandchildren. Shirley was preceded in death by her husband, Robert L Brothers; her parents, Paul and Lenora Carl of Cherryvale; sister, Mary Jo McQuillen of Springfield, Missouri; and brother, William M. Carl of Chanute. Shirley is survived by sons, Bob Brothers and wife, Linda, of Austin, Jim Brothers and Mary Claire of Denver, Colorado, and Bil Brothers of Salt Lake City, Utah; and sister-in-law, Nancy Carl of Chanute, Kansas. Shirley has seven adoring grandchildren, Daniel Brothers and wife, Shannon, Susannah and Michael Hollinger, Matthew Brothers and Sherry, Collin Brothers, David Brothers and Asha, Lucie Brothers, and Grace Juarez. Shirley also has 9 great grandchildren Caroline Brothers, Liliana Hollinger, Viviane Brothers, Shay Doshi, Kayla Hollinger, Anika Doshi, Gabriella and Marius Juarez, and Robert Julian “RJ” Brothers. Shirley’s family would like to express our deep appreciation for the love and care provided to our mother by the staff of Stoneybrook Assisted Living in Hewitt and of Bluebonnet Hospice service, and to the friends and volunteers who brought life and love to Shirley. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Shirley’s name to First Presbyterian Church, Waco, to Meals on Wheels, Waco, or to a charity meaningful to you. The family invites you to leave a message or memory on our “Tribute Wall” at www.WHBfamily.com.