Shirley Ann Dormish

Shirley Ann was born in Boulder, Colo., during the Great Depression. She lived her early years with her parents, John and Elizabeth Stengel, and her two sisters, Patty and Sally, in a log cabin near Boulder Creek off Folsom and Arapahoe. Growing up, Shirley and her sisters enjoyed double features at the movie theatre and musical performances at the “band shel,” and often visited their uncle’s farm in East Boulder. Her first job was at the Dairy Queen where the “Mr. Misty” drink was created.

Soon after Shirley graduated from Boulder's Mt. St. Gertrude Academy in 1954, considered nursing school, but instead entered the convent of the Sisters of Mercy of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Dubuque, Iowa, where she perfected her potato-peeling and stocking-separating skills and struggled to observe mandated periods of silence.

Having ultimately decided life as a nun was not for her, Shirley returned to Boulder and later stayed with extended family near Pennsylvania, where she eventually met Frank Dormish. They married in 1960, living initially in State College, Pa., where Shirley worked as a dental assistant and bookkeeper, before moving back to Colorado and settling in the new Hutchinson Hills neighborhood of Southeast Denver. While Frank worked as a research chemist for Marathon Oil Company, Shirley pursued a career as a domestic engineer, assisting in the construction of her five children's lives and imparting her special style of faithful loving concern on family, friends and neighbors, alike. She chauffeured her kids for paper routes and to and from extracurricular activities, nursed them through chicken pox, colds and concussions, and participated in babysitting coops, meal trains, Bible studies and church gatherings and prayer circles.

Shirley was good in crisis and knew well the routes to local emergency rooms --- navigating incidents such as the guzzling of rubbing alcohol, a hand mangled by a lawnmower blade, and various bike and car accidents. Somehow she found time to paint watercolors and acrylics, crochet "Afghans," sell wooden crafts made by her husband, and read, read, read countless novels and non-fiction and self-help books.

Her faith in Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior was central to her day-to-day experience. Her many Bibles could be found in various places, open, underlined and annotated. She never hesitated to pray for others, often beginning and ending with her favorite, softly uttered statement, "Praise you, Father, thank you, Jesus."

In her later life, Shirley volunteered at a crisis pregnancy center and enjoyed seeing her grandchildren, visiting new and used bookstores and re-watching Hallmark Hall of Fame and classic movies, meeting with her writing group and women's tea group, and traveling to such exotic places as Maine and Italy. Shirley loved and often remarked on unique-looking clouds and trees and kept boxes full of life notes and nature- and landscape-themed photos for inspiration. When she really got tickled, she had an infectious, sandpapery laugh, and she had a beautifully unique and swirly signature.

Shirley Ann was preceded in death by many friends and her parents, her husband, her sister Sally Pierce and her son Nathon Dormish. She is survived by: her sister --- Patricia Cahoon of Vienna, Va.; her children and their spouses --- Jonathon & Soon Rai Dormish of Aurora, Colo., Stefon & Margaret Dormish of Parker, Colo., Michelle & Cary Wenthur of San Marcos, Calif., Melissa & Ken Kelley of Winter Gardens, Fla., and Marrton Dormish of Broomfield, Colo.; her grandchildren --- Jung Wan, Yeun Jung, Clayton, Mary Beth, David, Meghan, Maegan, Ryan, Emma, Addison and Anthony; and, her great-grandchild, Chloe.

She loved them all and will be dearly missed.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.cristmortuary.com for the Dormish family.