Shirley Ruth McFarland

She was born March 10, 1949 in Navasota, Texas to Eddie Joe Tyler and Riley Woods. She chose to stay behind on the family land in Milligan to be with her grandma Fannie. During that time, she picked cotton before she even attended elementary school. Grandma Fannie was a share-cropper. Later she said that she was a slave and didn't even know it. She moved to Houston during her high school years and attended Jack Yates High School. She graduated in 1967 with her first son Carlton in her belly. She said that she had to hide her pregnancy because they wouldn't allow pregnant girls to walk across the stage. Two years later she gave birth to her second son Michael in 1969. By the early 70's, she found herself in cold hard Detroit, Michigan. She followed her love for Donald McFarland far away from family or friends. In November of 1973, she gave birth to her third son Donnell in Detroit. The relationship was on again, off again at its best during those years in Michigan. Eventually she would be left to survive the cold hard Detroit winters alone with her boys. She worked two jobs most of the time until she eventually found employment at Michigan Bell as a telephone operator. She gave a ride to her sister in law to fill out an application and decided to fill one out for herself. She was later hired and retired from that same corporation 30 years later. She decided, after years of struggle, to transfer her job to Oakland, California to be closer to family. She later said that the main reason for the move was to "save her boys from the Detroit streets." California turned out to be a disaster. Almost everything that could go wrong, did. She decided to move back home to Houston in 1982. She moved in with her sister Betty briefly and at times were good. She purchased a home on Houston's north side and raised hers sons alone. She had another brief marriage to Herman Armstead in the mid 80's. The marriage was short lived and she decided that she would stay the course alone. She retired from AT&T in 2008 and decided to travel. She bought an RV and traveled the country for a while before settling down at her home on the north side. She was diagnosed with Parkinsons disease in 2015. Shortly after that she was diagnosed with spinal stenosis. The illness took root fast and she was bedridden in 2016. She bought an acre of land and moved to Somerville, Texas during her last days. She finally succumb to it in October of 2017. She made her transition on the land as she wished. She was strong against passing away in a hospital or nursing home. She was survived by three sons, three grandchildren and two great grandchildren.