Shirley Mae Williams

May 28, 1928 - Dec. 26, 2013

Date of Service: Dec. 31, 2013

Shirley Mae Williams

HEYBURN – Our Loving mother, grandmother, sister and aunt, Shirley Mae Olenslager Williams, passed away on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2013, surrounded by her family.

Shirley was born May 28, 1928, in Rupert, Idaho, to Lawrence Peter and Katherine Penner Olenslager and became the youngest of three daughters. At the age of two, she moved with her family to Blackfoot, Idaho, where the family rented a farm and a few years later moved to American Falls. Mom loved her childhood in American Falls. She loved to climb trees in the orchard, play with the baby pigs, chicks, and her horse. She attended a two-room school house where she made lifelong friends. Shirley graduated from American Falls High School in 1946 and then moved with her family to Heyburn. She attended Henagers Business College in Salt Lake City, Utah, for one year. In the summer of 1948, she met Howard Williams on a blind date. They married on Sept. 12, 1949, in the Salt Lake LDS Temple. They then settled in the Rupert area and raised five wonderful children.

Shirley eventually went to work as a bookkeeper for Valley Livestock in Rupert and then later transferred to Burley Livestock Company. She loved what she did and made many wonderful friends at her places of employment. Mom was most pleased with her children, grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews. She also became a second mother to many children in the neighborhood.

She was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served in many organizations. She enjoyed studying the scriptures, especially the Old and New Testaments.

We will miss her terribly but are so happy that she is reunited with her husband, her parents, and other family and friends who have already passed on.

Shirley is survived by her children, Dennis and Joy Williams, Kirk and Tammy Williams, Paula and Randy Okelberry, Clint and Nancy Williams, and Lisa and Brian Bird; 23 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; her sisters, Naomia Bliss and Beatrice Merz; and many nieces and nephews, all who she loved dearly.

The funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 31, at the Heyburn LDS 1st and 2nd Ward Church, 530 Villa Dr., in Heyburn, with Bishop Paul Douglass officiating. Burial will be in the Riverside Cemetery in Heyburn.

Friends may call from 6 until 8 p.m. Monday, Dec. 30, at the Rasmussen Funeral Home 1350 E. 16th St. in Burley, and from 10 until 10:45 a.m. Tuesday at the church.