Shirley Jean Callen

Shirley Jean Callen was born October 21, 1936 in Portland, Oregon to Paul and Lillian (Custer) Stark and passed away at the age of 85 on May 14, 2022 in Sandpoint, Idaho. She married Martin Arthur Callen in 1960 in Portland, Oregon. Mart enlisted in the Army in 1962, and they were stationed in various places including Germany, where they adopted a son, Robert. Mart was discharged in 1968 and the three of them returned to the Callen family farm in Sagle, where Shirley lived for the rest of her life.

Shirley loved people. She never met a stranger and remembered names and faces easily – she would talk to anyone around her, often offering her practical wisdom to others, whether they asked for it or not! She was a helper, volunteering to run Bingo games at the Oddfellows assisted living and restocking the note paper and pencils at First Christian (now North Summit) Church. She loved plants and gardening, enjoyed picking huckleberries, and was careful not to let anything go to waste. She loved animals, especially her Boston bull terriers Little Girl and Shi-shi, and her cat, Shadow. She also loved the color pink; she said it made her happy.

Shirley leaves behind her sisters, Dorothy Blasdell of Portland, Oregon and Sally Hemphill of Daytona Beach, Florida; brothers-in-law Clyde (Karen) Callen and Bill (Louise) Callen of Sagle; sister-in-law Sue Callen of Las Vegas, Nevada; nieces and nephews Mike (Eran) Blasdell, Roxanne (Mark) Tibbettts, Rose (Tom) Hendrix, Nina (Bill) Norris, Missy (Doug) Nadvornick, Jeff (Debi) Shoopman, Sherrill (Tim) Hartzog, Tom Callen, James Callen, Craig (Heather) Callen, Allene (John) Lowrey and Will Hugh (Whitney) Callen; and numerous great nieces and nephews.

She has joined those who went before: Her Lord, Jesus Christ, her husband and son, her parents, her mother- and father-in-law Pearl and Tom Callen, her half brother Stuart Shrake, her brothers-in-law Bernard Blasdell, Jim Hemphill, and John Callen, her sister-in-law Marjorie (Callen) Orsburn, and her nieces Linda (Hemphill) Bell and Lynn Marie Shoopman.

The service remembering Shirley’s life will be held Tuesday, June 7, at 11 AM in the south building of North Summit Church. She requested pink flowers, and if you come, please feel free to wear pink: she is happy now!