Jean Shirley Ann Braswell, 86

Jean Shirley Ann Braswell made her way home to our Lord Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2015, while resting peacefully in her sleep. Shirley was born April 13, 1929, in Carrington, N.D., the first child of William and Ellen (Johnson) Treichel. JaDee Beverly May, Delbert Harlan, Duane Gary (deceased) and Dean Cary followed.

Shirley married Robert Franta in Coeur d’Alene in 1946 and they had three children together: Frank, John and Ellen. Shirley quickly accustomed herself to the life of a Navy wife and spent as many hours as she could on the tarmac with her husband and children. Her husband died in an airplane crash in early 1968 while their youngest child was still in high school.

Shirley could not sit idle and decided she needed to get out and mingle. In late 1968, she married Benjamin Stark. Shirley loved to help out and volunteered in many different areas. From many hours spent at the hospital to little odd jobs here and there, Shirley’s main joy was making people feel like laughing. Shirley later married Joe Braswell.

One passion of hers was to make sure that our service members were kept warm during the cold nights while overseas. She would spend hours throughout the year crocheting slippers and hats for service members as well as for others whom she met that might need something special and homemade. In recent years, you could hear her infectious laughter throughout the polling booths or volunteering at the Lake City Senior Center. In 2014, Shirley was awarded the Lifetime Volunteer Achievement Award for more than 4,000 hours of service at the Senior Center.

Those grieving for Shirley are her daughter, Ellen MacDonald and husband Herb; adopted daughter Cherryll Lindemann; sister JaDee Priest; brothers Del (Lennie) and Dean Treichel; grandchildren Radie, Robert, Christopher, Michael, Heather, Angela, Brian, Gary, Margaret and their children; including many close friends and extended family members.

Special thanks to caretakers Ed and Sheri Poindexter. A memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2015, at the Lake City Center, 1976 N. Lakewood Drive, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.