Shirley A Walters

into the waiting arms of her Jesus, with His sheep by His side, entering into His arms and home forevermore.

Shirley was born in Hepzibah, West Virginia, Harrison County, on April 24, 1939, to Harold and Esther

Davisson Clark. She attended grade school and entered high school in WV. When the family relocated

to Warren, Ohio, the unhappy Shirley was permitted to return to WV, to live with her Grandmother

Davisson and complete high school with her friends. At the age of 13, she had also been baptized at her

church, the Hepzibah Baptist Church. Her special mentor was Mrs. Marshall.

Soon afer graduating Shirley joined the U.S. Air Force as an 18 year old. She trained at Lackland Air

Base, then at San Antonio, TX, to be a dental technician, before transferring to Montgomery, AL, and on

to Elgin Air Force Base in FL. There she married her high school sweetheart, James Ash, a U.S. Marine

Corporal stationed at Jacksonville, NC. They moved to Camp Lejeune, NC, then to E’tain, France, where

Jim was killed in a car accident. Shirley returned to WV. with her three year old daughter, Tina Louise

Ash.

Before long, Shirley and Tina moved to Washington, D.C. where she met Larry Walters, who was in the

U.S. Army. They were married in Portsmouth, VA and later transferred to Illinois to welcome baby son

Steven Dale before moving to St. Louis, MO and various other locations as assigned by the Army. While

stationed in Stuttgart, Germany, Larry volunteered for Viet Nam duty. Shirley and the children returned

to Warren, OH, where daughter Tracey Diane was born.

Somewhere in the midst of the Viet Nam experience, they found time to move to Modesto, CA, and find

a house on Dickens Drive. However, Uncle Sam was not ready to release them. Leaving their property in

the care of a neighbor and good renters, the family spent some time in Savannah, GA. and West Point,

NY, before finally returning to Modesto to stay.

Shirley earned he A.A. at Modesto Junior College and ultimately retired from Civil Service at Sharpe

Defend Depot. She was a member of Herald General Baptist Church the rest of her life, where she

taught a children’s Sunday School Class for many years. She also spent several years volunteering at

Memorial Hospital and Modesto Library.

Shirley was predeceased by her parents, her daughter, Tracey, her brother, Bill Clark, and her first

husband. She is survived by her daughter, Tina Ash-Mahan of Port St. Joe, FL; son Steven (Brenda)

Walters, Indiatlantic, FL; grandchildren Calder and Maura Mahan; Sister Betty Cononico, of Ohio; and

one niece and two nephews.