Obituary of Shirley Faith Porter

On June 11, 2014, Shirley Porter went to heaven to be with her Lord. Her family was by her side until she took her last breath. She will be sorely missed. Shirley Faith was born on October 2, 1929 at the start of the depression in Los Angeles, California. She was the baby of the family and the last one to leave this earth. She was preceded in death by her parents, Harrell Lloyd Corson and Julia Irene Ruth Bolton Corson; her oldest sister, Lois; brother, Howard; and just nine months ago her sister, Verlie Margaret. She lost her husband of 51 years when Jerry passed in 2000. Shirley grew up in the LA area and treasured all of her memories of camping for months at a time on Huntington Beach. In 1946 at the age of 17, the family moved to Washington. Shirley graduated from Grandview High School in 1947. While working at the Sunnyside movie theater, she met and married Jerry Vernon Porter in 1949. Shirley and Jerry soon moved to Richland, where they raised their two children; Steven Vernon was born in 1951 and Judy Ann in 1953. Jerry worked at Hanford and Shirley was a stay at home wife. They enjoyed boating, water skiing, and long camping trips to the Oregon Coast in their Yellowstone trailer. They were also a ham radio family; Shirley’s call letters were K7PVJ and she enjoyed talking to people all over the country. She learned how to drop a ski and was elated to be the only one on the river on one ski. She learned how to walk on her hands at an early age and even ran a few races with Uncle Durman at the Pioneer Picnic. She was a den mother for the Boy Scouts, a group leader for the Girl Scouts, and a Sunday school teacher. She attacked everything she did with all the passion she could muster. But her most important job was always being a devoted wife to Jerry and loving her kids and of course grandkids. Her beloved, special relationships with Lisa, Morgan, Max and Joshua were the highlight of her life. A special thanks to Scott for always making Nana smile; you were her sunshine. Shirley’s love of the beach eventually took them from the home they had at Sunny Grand Speedway in the Yakima Valley to Grayland. They spent many years building their beach home while living in the motor home and letting her kids come over and build so many beautiful memories. Shirley’s heart remained at the beach when she came to Olympia in 2005 to live with her daughter, Judy. Judy and Shirley enjoyed their days together until Judy could no longer care for her. Judy cherished all the years she had with her sweet mom and felt it was a privilege to take care of her when the dementia was debilitating Shirley. A special thank you to Zeny and Ed Ravancho for the wonderful care they gave Shirley in the past eight months. Although she spent most of her time with Judy, Lisa, Scott and the kids, she equally loved her son Steve, Terry and family, and had many wonderful years and so many great memories because of them. She is survived by her daughter, Judy; son, Steve; grandkids, Lisa, Scott, Jason, Dale, Adam, Candida, Leonard, and Heather; great-grandkids, Morgan, Max, Joshua, Jacee, Jakeb, Deseray, Katrina, Sierra and Tyler; great-great-grandkids, Amberly and Rowdy; as well as many nieces, nephews, and lifelong friends. Our hearts are broken and we will miss you. Please leave memories of Shirley or condolences for her family in the Guestbook below.