Thurza "Snooky" Rae Carter-Shields

Thurza (Snooks) Carter-Shields passed away peacefully surrounded by friends & family at the age of 83, on November 7th, 2021, at her home in Yakima, WA. Snooks was born on August 9th, 1938, at St Elizabeth’s Hospital to Jean Dent Shields and Raymond Shields. Growing up in Yakima, she attended school in the Yakima School District, graduating from Yakima High School. She made lifelong memories swimming in the canal that ran along her grandparent’s property on 27th & Lincoln. Later in life, it was noted that Snooks rarely suffered from a cold or the flu. She attributed this to all the time she spent swimming that canal, strengthening her immune system, “nearly growing gills.” She loved spending time with her sister Rebecca & friends in the neighborhood, especially her twin cousins (Jean & Joan Dent) who lived down the road from her childhood home.

Snooks was known to be a rascally bold character at times much to the dismay of her father. One summer evening at her parents’ dirt road ranch on 66th, bored with a friend and lacking in transportation, Snooks decided to take the ranch tractor (with crawler treads) and drive it down to “The Freezer” to see friends, which back then was on 9th & Yakima Ave. Later, on their way home from dinner, her parents happened to drive by and spotted the tractor in the parking lot. “I think that was our tractor, Ray!” her mother exclaimed.

After high school, Snooks moved on to Seattle to attend Seattle University, where she met her first husband. Nearly a year later they decided to get married and move back to Yakima. Once back home, Snooks took a position at her grandfather’s business, Ross W. Dent Insurance Agency. At the time her father was an agent and would eventually take over. She would often tell stories about working in the insurance industry. It was evident that she enjoyed working in that field.

Family always played an important role in her life. She was very close with her mother and sister. She spent a lot of time cleaning her parents’ house and babysitting her nephew Jones. She loved to go to “luncheons” with her friends and cousins. She stayed close to her cousin Judi, spending a lot of time with her and her husband Nash Aguirre until her death in 2015. In the last decade of life, she was a mainstay at Ballesteri’s, where they knew her “usual.” She also enjoyed Sunday drives up into the hills for lunch at either Trout Lodge or Gold Creek. She was a fan of their fish and chips.

It was well known that Snooks had a sweet tooth. Most meals were simply a conduit to desert. At home there was never a shortage of chocolate, brownies, cookies scattering her counters, or homemade lemon pie.

She continued to be a pistol in her adult life. One Halloween she got a wild idea to prank her sister & her family. She dressed in full garb as an elderly lady: grey wig, spectacles, hat, trench coat, scarf and an elderly voice. When they answered the door, her sister and nephew were befuddled. She had them completely fooled. Her sister handed the old lady some candy seemingly out of pity, at which point Snooks broke out in laughter taking off her wig revealing herself. Nevertheless, this did not stop her sister from calling both her and their mother the following day to confirm that what had happened the night before was real.

Snooks loved a good romance novel. She loved her daily “soaps” and various other shows. She loved shopping for cute outfits, getting her nails done, throwing cider parties at her family’s orchard and of course her pets. There was never a time in her life that she did not have a pet of some sort. Her dog Happy and cat Kitty were her closest 4-legged companions and biggest joys towards the end of her life.

Snooks always kept in close contact with her friends and family, speaking with her cousin Diane and nephew nearly every day.

In the last 10 years of her life, as her mobility lessened, she spent a considerable amount of time with her caregivers. She developed very close relationships with several of them, especially Linda Monoian, who was with her for five years. Her family is very grateful for all of those who played this role in her life through the years.

Preceding her life are her parents, Jean & Ray Shields, her sister Rebecca Dent Shields, and cousins Jean (Garrison) & Joan. She is survived by her nephew Jones Patton, cousin Diane (Jerry) Price and cousin Bill (Julie) Shields.

There will be a service held at Grace of Christ Presbyterian Church on Thursday, November 18th at 1 pm. To share a memory of Snooks visit, www.keithandkeith.com.