She is survived by her husband and best friend Douglas W. Spruill; her three children, Michelle Jakelis and husband Rix of Phoenix, Arizona, sons Jason Spruill and wife Alison and Zachary Spruill and wife Karen, both of Kingwood, Texas; and her three grandchildren, Caleb Michael, Evelyn Elizabeth and Jason Everett, Jr. (LJ) of Kingwood. Her grandchildren were her ultimate joy. Born Shirley D. Pilgrim on December 18, 1946 to A.B. Pilgrim and his wife, formerly Fannie Belle Croxton in Dallas, Texas, she later took the name of her mother’s second husband Raymond E. Riddle after the early passing of A. B. Pilgrim, thus becoming Shirley D. Riddle. She came to reside with Raymond and Fann in Irving, Texas during her infancy. In 1965 she was married to Doug and they dwelled in Irving until June 1979 when they moved to Kingwood, Texas. It was during that year she moved her church membership to Kingwood First Baptist Church from the First Baptist Church of Irving.
Shirley attended Irving Public Schools and met her future husband in August 1962. After a 2 ½ year courtship they began their sacred marriage of more than 53 years, embracing each other and their respective families with respect and devotion. Shirley followed her husband as he attended responsibilities to our nation, living with him briefly first in Maryland, then in Kentucky and Virginia. In the year following, she lived with her dear in-laws as her husband served out of the country. With his return, the couple established a permanent home in Irving until their ultimate destination in 1979. In the ensuing years, eschewing a career, she devoted her life to her family, clearly personifying the Wife of Noble Character revealed in Proverbs 31:10. As she sought guidance for her family, she adhered to the principles extolled in Proverbs 26:10 – “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it”, resulting in the development of three productive members of our society.
Shirley was an excellent homemaker, learning much from her mother, mother-in-law and other senior examples about preparing meals, cleanliness and the overall business of running a household. She aggressively embraced her role in the family as matriarch, establishing expected patterns of behavior in good taste, sometimes seeming stern, but always compassionate.
In her last years Shirley endured much, being afflicted with multiple health concerns. She complained little as she underwent various treatments, holding her despair within. She asked for little throughout and gave much. Wife, mother and friend as she took her last breath.
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