Shirley Jean Booth passed away peacefully on May 30, 2024, in her beloved Collierville, Tennessee after a long illness. Born to Emily Virginia (Richardson) and Lewis Carmichiel on November 10, 1932, in Ripley, Mississippi.
Shirley grew up in Dyess, Arkansas where her love of gardening and athletics grew. She played basketball in high school and college – a love that well extended to the University of Memphis Tigers and the Memphis Grizzlies. Shirley often told the story of growing up with Johnny Cash and that her family actually lived through the flood of which Cash wrote and sang in “Five Feet High and Rising”.
Shirley was an avid gardener – her green thumb was evident in her large flower and vegetable gardens that made her so proud. And, she was a very creative chef especially with the delicious vegetables she nurtured.
She surely had the patience of Job raising three very curious and active boys – all two years apart. Shirley served as a den mother when her sons were in Cub Scouts.
Shirley loved Collierville and made it her home. She and her late husband Clarence Melvin Booth managed Booth Hardware – a long time stalwart pillar of Collierville. She and Melvin were members of Collierville Christian Church. Buster and Charlie, her two labs, were her favorite four-legged friends whose tails always wagged when she was around.
Later in life, Shirley thrived in working elections for Shelby County and was always in tune with local politics.
Shirley is proceeded in death by her parents, her husband, Melvin Booth, her son, Charles Glen May, two brothers and three sisters.
She will be dearly missed by her family, sister Marian Carmichiel, her sons, Gerald Roy May (Lisa) and Gary Michael May (April) and her stepdaughters Diana Booth White (Chris), Elaine Booth Welch (Bill) and Allison Booth Rasnake (Michael) in addition to her grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.
Everyone is welcomed to attend graveside services to honor and celebrate the life of Shirley Jean Booth Saturday, June 8th at 10:00 at Magnolia Cemetery located at 435 South Mount Pleasant Road in Collierville, Tennessee.
In lieu of flowers, the family has suggested any gifts be designated to LeBonheur Children’s Hospital’s Lynnleigh Hammond fund supporting the Heart Defects Center, the University of Alabama- Huntsville’s Glen May Memorial Scholarship in honor of their brother, Glen, or the charitable organization of their choice that is meaningful to them.
