Shirley Lee Phillips, the daughter of Norman Edward and Luella Norine (Blevins) Dreyer, was born April 10, 1938, in Oakland, IA. Shirley passed away, July 14, 2022, at Elmcrest Nursing Home in Harlan, IA, at the age of 84 years, 3 months, and 4 days.
Shirley grew up in Oakland where she attended school. On September 17, 1954, she was united in marriage to Lowell Kay Phillips at the Carson United Methodist Church. Their marriage was blessed with three daughters: Cherri Lynn, Colleen Kaye, and Candace Lee. They lived in Carson and Shirley worked at several jobs as a waitress and cleaning cabins and Shady Lawn Restaurant and Motel, before becoming a bus driver for the Carson Macedonia School District and then the Riverside School District. She drove a bus for over thirty years before her retirement.
Shirley loved spending time with her grandchildren, going to craft fairs, and collecting Owls. She had served on the Carson Rodeo Board and the Carson Park Board.
Shirley is preceded in death by her husband Lowell on November 28, 2008; and her parents.
She is survived by her daughters: Cherri Phillips of Fremont, NE, Colleen Richards and husband Mike of Elliott, IA, and Candace Knop and husband Mark of Henderson, IA; her grandchildren: Marty Richards, Kelli Gamble, Joshua Knop and wife Shonda, and Jerrica Jones; her great grandchildren: Kaden, Kaleb, and Kingston Docker, Olivia Gamble, Jacoby, Kenley, and Braxton Knop, and Addison Jones; her sister Donna Kelly of Oakland, IA; and her brother Norman “Eddie” Dreyer and wife Karen of Palm Bay, FL. She is also survived by many other relatives and friends.
A funeral service will be held on Tuesday, July 19, 2022, at 11:00 AM, at the Rieken Vieth Funeral Home in Oakland. Visitation with the family will take place one hour prior to the funeral. Interment will be in Wheeler Grove Cemetery. Rieken Vieth Funeral Home in Oakland is assisting the family with arrangements.
