Shirley McKee Obituary

Shirley M. McKee

Shirley M. McKee, 93, Lawrence, died Friday, August 28, 2015, at Lawrence Presbyterian Manor. She was born March 6, 1922, in Kansas City, Missouri, the daughter of Orville W. and A. Louise (Mathonet) Snyder.

She graduated as valedictorian from Westport High School in 1939 and then attended Kansas City Kansas Community College before transferring to the University of Kansas, where she was elected to Beta Gamma Sigma, an honorary society that recognizes top students in the School of Business. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1943, and as a fifty-year member of the KU Alumni Association, she proudly wore her Gold Medal Club pin.

Shirley married David E. McKee on May 22, 1943, in Kansas City, Missouri. In 2010 they celebrated their sixty-seventh anniversary.

After living in Kansas City, Kansas, and Wichita, the couple moved to Topeka. She was a church secretary for Westminster Presbyterian Church, and in 1964 was the first woman ordained there as a ruling elder. She was initiated into Chapter DF of the P.E.O. Sisterhood, served as a Girl Scout troop leader, and became a season ticket holder for Kansas University football and basketball games.

During ten years of residence in Hutchinson, Kansas, she worked for Reno County Abstract and Title Company. She was a charter member of P.E.O. Chapter HP.

Upon moving to Lawrence in 1984, she joined First Presbyterian Church. She belonged to P.E.O. Chapter GQ, which she served as president on two separate occasions; she later became a charter member of Chapter JU.

Shirley loved to read, to piece quilts, and to play games of all kinds. She also enjoyed cooking and was famous for her pies. As the owner of a cabin in Allenspark, Colorado, she served as president of the Estes Park Summer Residents Association.

Her husband David preceded her in death on December 4, 2010.

Survivors include her daughter, Kathryn M. Stover (John) of Lawrence, KS; a son, Dr. Douglas E. McKee (Margie) of Visalia, CA; four grandchildren: Dr. Mark C. Stover (Emily) of San Francisco, CA; Joy Stover Halgren (Steven) of Overland Park, KS; Meghan McKee Finn ( Kevin) of San Francisco, CA; and Kaitlin McKee of San Francisco, CA.

Memorial service arrangements are pending. Contributions may be made in her honor to the First Presbyterian Church Endowment Fund or to the Good Samaritan Fund at the Lawrence Presbyterian Manor. Both may be sent in care of Warren-McElwain Mortuary.

Online condolences may be sent to www.warrenmcelwain.com

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