After 87 years, our Heavenly Father called His beloved child, Shirley Ann Boland, home. There is a celebration in Heaven with all the angels rejoicing!! A gathering of family, friends, and loved ones are there that Shirley has longed to be reunited with, especially her husband, best friend, and love of her life, Bob. Her parents, Ed and Francis Friday, her sister Wilma Bell, sister-in-law Mary, and niece Jennifer, are among the many loved ones who have been awaiting her arrival in Heaven.
Shirley was born in Pierce City, Missouri, February 22, 1936. A cute, skinny, shy, redhead with freckles who loved walking up the hill from her home to visit her grandparents. When she was young, the family moved to Kansas City, Kansas where she attended St. Benedict’s grade school and graduated from Bishop Ward High School.
The stars aligned one night when Shirley was serving beer at a wedding reception for a friend. A good looking, skinny, crew cut, De LaSalle Military Academy boy was there, named Bob Boland. It did not take long, and they were engaged. Her niece Barbara remembers Bob and Shirley taking her and her sister Jennifer for rides in Bob’s dreamy blue convertible.
Bob and Shirley hitched their wagons together on the 22nd of January 1955. A cold snowy morning that turned into a beautiful sunny day. After a short honeymoon in Manhattan, Kansas, they returned to KCK where Shirley worked and supported Bob while he attended college. After starting a family, they moved to the Missouri side for Bob’s job at O’Hara High School. Living on Booth Street, behind St. Regis Church and O’Hara, for the next 30 years was where they found a neighborhood of lifelong friends.
Shirley knew what she wanted, which was to be the best mother and wife she could be. There are no degrees for that, but if there were, she would have been recognized for outstanding achievement, summa cum laude, by virtue of her unwavering commitment to Bob, and unconditional love of their three children-Craig, Karen, and Kevin. This love expanded to her daughter in law, Monica (Karen’s wife) and Shannon (Kevin’s wife), and to the extended family, her nieces, Barbara and Jennifer, Jennifer’s husband, Jim and their children-Aaron and Anthony, and Anthony’s wife, Beth, their kids-Aidan, Abby, and Elise, and the family dogs, especially Hope. But nothing rivaled the love for Kevin and Shannon’s boys, her grandchildren, Eli and Ian!
Shirley’s devotion to her faith and family were the cornerstones of her life. The reflection of her life is found in the memories of family and friends. No one can remember Shirley, or Bob, ever saying a mean thing about anyone. There was no preaching about how to live your life, just the quiet steadfast example of the love of Christ, day in, and day out, that shone so bright. Shirley made you feel special by the way she asked questions about your life and family, and really listened! She remembered what you liked, and had such kind, sweet eyes. She could be mischievous and fun too. Family gatherings at Bob and Shirley’s were legendary. Warmth and joy of holidays with beautiful decorations, and everyone gathering behind the dinner table, loaded with wonderful homemade food, for pictures.
Shirley had a green thumb. You always knew which house was Shirley’s because of the beautiful roses, beds of flowers, and hanging baskets. On summer nights, if you wanted to know where Mom was, you had to look outside, because she would be working out past dark. She loved to “walk around the yard” and relished the simple beauty of God’s creation, especially a good homegrown tomato in summer.
It is with grace and strength that Shirley lived her life. Of course, there were things in life that she wanted different than they were, but her devotion and trust in the Lord drove her unconditional love and grace in moving through them, especially in these last few years.
The world was better for her being in it, and Heaven has gained a wonderful angel. She will be watching over all of us. She’s going to be very busy with everybody she wants to watch over now that she’s running free and without pain.
Her generous loving spirit will live on in all of us who knew and loved her!
The family offers their sincere thanks to all the wonderful caregivers at Foxwood Springs Senior Living in Raymore, and the Hospice Team, for all the love they have shown to Shirley.
A Funeral Mass will be held at Our Lady of the Presentation Church in Lee’s Summit on Monday, March 27 at 10:30 AM. Visitation: 60 minutes before Mass at church. A luncheon will follow Mass at church. Immediately following the luncheon, burial will commence at Mount Calvary Cemetery in Kansas City, Kansas.
The family requests no flowers and suggests contributions to the scholarship funds of Bishop Ward High School, 708 N. 18th St., Kansas City, Kansas 66102 and/or to the De LaSalle Alumni Association, PO Box 380083, Kansas City, Missouri 64138.
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