Shirley Carey, 88, passed away peacefully in Loveland, Colo., on March 20, 2025.
Shirley (Paulus) Carey was born in Afton, Iowa, on Jan. 5, 1937, the only daughter to Glen and Stella Florence (Ritter) Paulus. After graduating in 1956, she began her professional journey at Bankers Life before returning home to care for her mother following surgery. Her next chapter unfolded at Farm Bureau, where her technological intuition first revealed itself. Among her peers, Shirley distinguished herself as one of the few who could produce flawless financial reports without the telltale signs of error that was white-out. Her exceptional skills and adaptability quickly made her easy to place across various roles.
Family acquaintances for years, Shirley became a pen pal to Dale Carey while he was serving in Korea. It blossomed into love, and on Sept. 7, 1958, they were wed. Together they built their life primarily on an acreage in Eldridge, before eventually relocating to Greeley, Colo., to be closer to their family.
A natural-born helper, Shirley wove herself into the fabric of her community through active participation in church activities, Girl Scouts, Brownies, 4-H, and countless neighborhood initiatives. She was the neighbor everyone could count on — always ready with homemade cupcakes for school events or hand-crocheted blankets for friends in need.
While Shirley’s talents were many, two passions defined her legacy: genealogy and computers.
Long before Ancestry.com existed, Shirley volunteered tirelessly for Union County, meticulously researching family lineages with remarkable dedication. Her expertise extended beyond her own heritage to support major ancestry companies and help friends and family discover their roots. Her own ancestral line proudly traces back to soldiers of the American Revolution.
In the realm of technology, Shirley was a genuine pioneer. As a beta tester for AOL and published author of a book on Mac-PC communication, she defied generational stereotypes. Perhaps most remarkably, she flipped the script on the typical grandparent-grandchild dynamic — teaching her grandchildren how to navigate computers rather than the other way around. Those grandchildren fondly recall playing games of SLINGO and SkiFree during visits to the family farm.
As a homemaker, Shirley passed down invaluable skills to her daughters —cooking, canning, gardening, sewing, and the art of managing a household on a limited budget. Her grandchildren loved her scratch-made egg noodles and mashed potatoes, and the joy of discovering homemade vanilla ice cream waiting in the freezer. In later years, a family rite of passage involved sneaking into the cellar to pilfer the limited supply of Shirley and Dale’s home-canned beans before other grandkids could claim them.
She leaves behind her brother, Rich (Janet) Paulus; three daughters: Denise (Marc) Smith, Dawn (Morgan) Mullican, and Diana (Lance) Guerin; nine grandchildren: Kevin (Kara) King, Anna (Chad) vonSeggern, Shawn (Kayla) Mullican, Brandon (Ashley) Mullican, Aaron (Shaye) Mullican, Jennifer (Cory) Dixon, Josh Mullican, Emily (Cody) Ball, and Austin Guerin; and 10 great-grandchildren, with two more on the way.
Shirley was preceded in death by her parents, Glen and Florence, her brother Gordon, and her husband, Dale.
In her final wishes, Shirley requested two things: to be buried alongside her sweetheart of 63 years at Rock Island Arsenal in Iowa, and to be cremated so she could “get back her smoking hot body.”
Her family honors both requests, finding comfort in knowing she has finally found peace.
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