Shirley J. Ade

Shirley Jane Ade, 79, McPherson, passed away Sunday, Jan. 15, 2017 while surrounded by her loving family at Cedars Courts in McPherson, KS after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer.

Services will be held Thursday, Jan. 19, at 10:30 a.m. at McPherson First United Methodist Church with Pastor Karen Rice Ratzlaff officiating. Burial will follow at McPherson Cemetery. Visitation will be Wednesday, Jan. 18, from 3-7 p.m. at Stockham Family Funeral Home, McPherson, with family receiving friends from 5 p.m.-7 p.m. Memorials are suggested to Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice or First United Methodist Church.

Born on July 27, 1937, in Goessel, KS to Jesse C. and Frieda Wedel Becker, Shirley was baptized at Roxbury Methodist Church. She attended Greenwood District 23 and graduated Valedictorian in 1955 from Roxbury High School. She was the 1955 Roxbury May Queen.

After graduation, Shirley worked at Roxbury State Bank when a young man who grew up just across the county line, Carl M. Ade, came home from serving in Guam “tanned and dressed in his Air Force blues” as she often said. Shirley and Carl were married February 15, 1958, at First Presbyterian Church in Roxbury. They lived in Roxbury before moving to McPherson in 1958. They had three children, David, Marty, and Carla.

Shirley was an active member of McPherson First United Methodist Church and United Methodist Women and served in numerous offices and capacities from lay leader to the KS West Conference to mission trips. She was a charter member of EHU since 1965, a member of McPherson County Historical Society, and volunteered with Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice and McPherson Opera House. She was a past member of Jaycee Janes, president of PTA in 1968 and 1969, and was a Cub Scout den mother and Camp Fire Girls leader whose members stayed in touch with her throughout her life. Shirley worked at People’s State Bank for 15 years and McPherson County Museum for 7 years.

A lifelong learner, Shirley was an avid reader and kept a diary/journal since she was 12. She enjoyed puzzles, KU basketball, attending grandchildren and great-grandchildren’s activities, genealogy, collections, birds, flower gardening, and painting. One of her paintings received recognition and was displayed at Kansas State University.

Shirley traveled, camped, and hiked extensively with her husband and as a family. They visited fifty states, Europe, Canada, Australia, cruised the Panama Canal and European rivers, camped their way on the Alaskan Highway to Alaska, and made many fall trips to Maine. Special memories include a family eastern Caribbean cruise to celebrate Shirley and Carl’s 50th wedding anniversary in 2008, and a family 40th wedding anniversary celebration at The Cottage House at Council Grove, where Shirley and Carl spent many anniversaries.

She loved South Mineral Campground and Crystal, Colorado, even enjoying a last trip to CO in Sept. 2016 with husband Carl and son David. At age 74, Shirley hiked three mountain peaks with a ladies group. But besides the mountain vistas, always, her special places on earth where she felt God’s presence in nature was her flower garden and the hill on section 12 at Gypsum Creek Township in McPherson County. Her favorite Bible verse was Psalms 121.

Besides her parents, Shirley was preceded by a sister-in-law, Linda Becker.

In addition to her husband Carl of the home, survivors include two sons, David Ade and wife Stephanie Harsin, Topeka; Marty Ade and wife Lori, Concordia; daughter, Carla Boesker and husband Darryl, Canton; five grandchildren, Phillip Boesker and wife Brooke, McPherson; Ryan Boesker, Salina; Kent Boesker, Canton; Kaelyn Ade, Kearney, Nebraska; Janessa Ade, Concordia; three great-grandsons, Carter and Baylor Boesker, McPherson; Brecken Boesker, Salina; two brothers, Ron Becker and wife Verna, Langley; Jim Becker and wife Charlotte, McPherson; a nephew, nieces, great-nephews, great-nieces, and many other relatives and friends. To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Shirley J. Ade please visit our Sympathy Store.