Shirley Ann Curry

Shirley Ann Curry was born the youngest of three children to Ray and Gail Curry in Hillsboro, Texas. Her sister, Hazel Shannon Glasscock and brother Don Curry, nicknamed “Pete” still live in the Pearland, Texas area where Shirley will be laid to rest next to her parents. She also is survived by her two daughters, Gail Nickless with husband Wayne and Anita Baranowski with husband Robert; five grandchildren: Alexa, Ryan, Amanda and Riley Baranowski and Nikita Nickless; 2 nieces: Cathy Gardner and Julie Huepers and three nephews: Phil Curry, John Curry and Darrell Shannon.

Born in the Great Depression, Shirley was starting first grade right in the midst of WWII. Her father, too old to be drafted, heard there was work down south and moved the family to an area of Alvin, Texas known as Hastings Oil Field. There he found lifelong work and the family settled. This was the year Shirley was starting first grade though and she did not want to start school with a bunch of strangers. She sat out the first year and picked it up the next.

Known as a trickster, Shirley could amaze her friends with her gymnastics, the splits, and daring tricks aboard her trusty bike, including standing on the seat while in motion and standing on her head (on the seat) while doing the splits…also while in motion…and all while riding down a shell road.

She enjoyed playing piano and also the clarinet. She was a good student in school. At the time, she was in school, they were just adding the 12th grade to high school. After leaving school, she married Ted Rother in December, 1952 and they were off to College Station, Texas, home of the Texas A&M Aggies. A few years later, their first child was born on June 10, Gail Ann, a near birthday gift for Shirley. By then they were living in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

It wasn’t too long before Ted was drafted into the army and their next home was Bad Nauheim Germany, near Frankfurt. What an adventure for a young Mom in a foreign country. Her favorite part about living in Germany was watching ice hockey. They lived there for nearly two years before returning stateside. They lived in Pearland, Texas for a time and wound up in Baytown, Texas for Ted’s work in Humble Oil.

Their second child was born in Baytown, named Anita Karen. Four years passed and the job with Humble for Ted had new opportunities in the company that now is known as Exxon. Shirley’s family moved six times in nine years making the challenge ever-present of setting up a new household, registering kids in school and making new friends. Each location usually meant a new pet too as Shirley was pretty softhearted when the kids found stray cat or dog.

But moving did not stop the family from taking many driving vacations. The family spent several weeks on the road each summer, seeing points in all of the 48 States, except the elusive Maine. These travels usually meant a birthday cake on the road, shared with Shirley and Gail. All in her 1967 Oldsmobile Delmont 88 that she affectionately named Mehitabelle and she still owns with 124,000 original miles.

The last move landed the family in Littleton, Colorado. Her marriage ended here and she took an interest in pharmaceutical work. She became a pharmaceutical assistant and worked at GNC and the K-Mart pharmacy in Littleton.

In 1979, Shirley’s adventurous spirit made her say yes to moving to New York with her daughter Anita. They had many fun adventures in the Big Apple. They explored the city and met lots of celebrities in their travels. Then they moved to Lubbock, Texas and joined Gail and both girls completed their education there.

Once both girls were working, Shirley decided that she loved Colorado the very best of all places she had lived and seen. So she moved back there and lived in the same apartment from 1983 til 2010. During that time, she was a trooper and a battler. She faced many health problems and somehow beat the odds many times.

In 2010, she was willing to hit the road again and moved to California to be near Anita, her husband Robert and their four children: Alexa, Ryan, Amanda and Riley. She had an apartment at Morning View Terrace in Escondido and enjoyed her neighbors and the activities there. She walked about a mile nearly every day to pick up a few things at the store and stop for coffee at Arby’s. She made the most of every opportunity to see the efforts of her grandkids, experiencing a myriad of baseball games, band concerts, choir concerts, play performances, high school football games, hockey games, baton parades and holidays. She kept a full calendar until the summer when health issues caught up with her again and sent her to Palomar Vista, where her favorite memory was the Hawaiian Luau when the 4 grandkids came and the boys were recruited onstage to dance the hula.

Mimi we are pretty sure you can do the hula yourself now in heaven. We love and miss you!