Shirley Lee Stiley

Shirley Lee Ellis Stiley, 89 years old, beloved mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother passed away Friday, April 14, 2023, at the U.C.Health Greeley Hospital after a short illness. She was born on February 13, 1934, to Asa and Georgia Ellis in Evans Colorado. Shirley resided at Garden Square of Greeley.

She grew up with an amazing large family of 12 where she was the 10th child, of 5 brothers, and 6 sisters. She was the last of the Ellis Dynamic Dozen to go home to be with the Lord.

Shirley attended school in the Evans and LaSalle area growing up. She graduated from Greeley High School in 1952. Shirley was the first of her twelve siblings to graduate high school. After high school, she went to secretarial school and learned typing and shorthand. She worked as a secretary and helped her mother Georgia with her job at the Woolworth lunch counter in Greeley.

Shirley worked for the Poudre Valley School District in Fort Collins. She enjoyed her job at the Blevins Jr. High School cafeteria where she worked from 1971 until 1992. Working for the school district allowed her to have the same schedule as her four school-age children. She continued to work for the school and in 1992 she managed the central bake shop at the Webbe Jr. High School. She retired in 1996 after twenty-five years.

She met her husband Jack Eugene Lewis while working at the Greeley Woolworths. Jack and Shirley were married in 1954 in LaSalle CO. They moved to Fort Collins right after they married. They had four children: Pamela Jean Lewis Cogburn, Annette Eileen Lewis, Richard Asa Lewis, and Nina Sue Lewis Parsons. They lived the majority of their marriage in Fort Collins. While raising their four children Jack and Shirley loved to go fishing and camping in the Rocky Mountains. They separated and then later divorced in 1991. Jack passed away in 2001 in Glenwood Springs, Colorado.

Shirley married Hollis Ray Jordan in 1997 and moved to Greeley, Colorado. They were married for five years until Holly passed away from lung cancer in 2002.

Shirley met and married Harold Stiley in 2005. Harold Stiley died in 2018.

Shirley had a witty sense of humor and could be a bit absent-minded at times. This earned her the nickname of Squirrely Shirley. With a history of Alzheimer’s and dementia in the Ellis family, Shirley worried about her mental health. We teased her that we would not recognize when she showed signs or the symptoms of either disease because of her mischievous and whimsical personality. In the end, dementia was making its way into her mind.

Shirley had an uncanny knack to remember show tunes and popular songs and she would start singing whenever the mood struck her. She liked to walk and it was difficult to keep up with her. Shirley loved to garden and her yard in the summer was full of beautiful plants and flowers. She was lucky at BINGO and enjoyed playing cards with friends and family. Shirley enjoyed cooking and was a very good cook. Most of all she enjoyed time with her family and friends.

Survivors include Brother-in-law Paul Otten, Sister-in-law Dela Ellis, dear friend Joyce Cox, daughter Pamela Cogburn (Lonny), son Richard Lewis (Vickie), daughter, Nina Parsons (Blaine), she is survived by 9 grandchildren, Heidi Cogburn-Ewing (Corey), Landon Cogburn (Kristen), Lewis Mirelez, Jason Mirelez (Jasmine), Melissa Soelter (Geoff), Rebecca Davis (Fred), Brittany Parsons, Chelsea Parsons, Trisha Parsons (Dominic Smith). Also 14 great-grandchildren. Numerous nieces and nephews.

Shirley was preceded in death by husbands, Jack E. Lewis, Hollis R. Jordan, and Harold Stiley. Siblings, Donald Dennis Ellis, Leonard Russell (Russ) Ellis, Harriett Irene Lewis, Melvin Orville (Chuck) Ellis, Edna Faye Peterson, Laura Lavon (Bonnie) Mitchell, Esther Kathryn (Kitty) Mosier, Chester Carl (Jack) Ellis, Elwood Gene Ellis, Evelyn Gladys Otten, Deanna June Boyer and daughter Annette Eileen Lewis.