Shirley Ann Reed's Obituary
Shirley McConkie Reed was born on March 22, 1936, the oldest of nine (9) children of the late Raymond and Lela McConkie of Edmore, Michigan. Shirley passed away peacefully just before midnight on August 24, 2025, with her two daughters, Kelly Reed Lucas and Tracey L. Reed by her side. Shirley was in good health up until a matter of days before her passing and even enjoyed an outdoor picnic with various family members less than 10 days earlier.
Besides her two daughters, Shirley is also survived by her sisters, Joan L. Vaughn (Jack), Emma Jean McConkie (Jean), Sharon Hey, Judy Henderson (Elton) and Brenda Shuler (Dan), and brother, James McConkie (Dawn). In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by her brothers, Robert McConkie and Albert McConkie. Married to Laurence Reed for over 66 years at the time of his passing in December 2019, Shirley was a beloved member of the Reed family as well and especially close to her husband's last surviving sibling, John Reed, and their niece, Diane Smith. Shirley is survived by many, many nieces and nephews on both sides of the family as well as many long-time friends.
Shirley fell in love with her husband, "Zeke" Reed, when they both were just 17 years of age. They met in 1953 at the movie theater that was then in Edmore, MI and married soon after in Alma, MI. They lived for a time on the Reed family farm in Stanton but later relocated to Lansing, where Zeke worked at the Oldsmobile plant and Shirley worked as a secretary at a local insurance company. Kelly and Tracey were born in Lansing, but the family relocated to the converted field stone school house on Lake Montcalm Road in 1961. Situated on 80 acres, Zeke farmed the land and ran a dairy operation nearby while Shirley went to work for a year or so at the old General Electric factory in Edmore and later retired as a bookkeeper for over 25 years at Stanton Seed and Supply.
Being a child of the Great Depression, Shirley was a frugal soul and took great pleasure in gardening and canning her produce. While raising her family, she routinely canned up to 200 quarts of tomatoes in autumn to feed the family through the long winter months. She made her own tomato juice and froze it, canned venison and even made and canned bottles of her own ketchup one year.
Shirley never seemed to put herself first and did not often treat herself to much but her children remember how excited she was when she drove to Grand Rapids with her Mother in the 1970's to purchase her first microwave oven. It was small and cost $500, which then was considered a big ticket item. Since she was working full time, she appreciated the speed at which family meals could be cooked with it.
In 1987, Shirley was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a double mastectomy. In the beginning, she said she wanted "just 5 more years" but she never, ever suffered a recurrence. In the wake of her diagnosis, she and Zeke purchased a small cottage across the North shore at Houghton Lake, where they ended up retiring in 1994.
At Houghton Lake, Shirley and Zeke were able to enjoy their many outdoor interests. They camped, hunted, fished and boated regularly. Many friends and family stayed with them year-round at the cottage, and Shirley was always a wonderful host. Shirley was a very good cook, and her recipes are still being enjoyed today by her family. Her molasses cookies with jelly centers were a favorite of her children, as well as her home-cooked beef and noodles and popovers fresh out of the oven on Christmas mornings.
While living at Houghton Lake, Shirley taught water aerobics and many of her students became her personal friends. Shirley was social by nature and a good listener. Making friends with her was easy. For nearly the past two years of her life, she resided with her sister, Emma Jean, at Green Acres Retirement Community in Mt. Pleasant, MI where she was beloved by many of her caregivers. There she participated in weekly bingo games, lunch bunch, weekly arts and crafts activities and listening to musical productions performed by various local artists.
Shirley's passing came without much warning. On August 15th, she attended a "friends and family" picnic at Green Acres, eating well and chatting with everyone. She spoke of her turning 90 next March and repeated her goal of living to 100. Unfortunately, this was not to be. She fell ill only 5 days later, being ill for just 4 days before passing on August 24th. While her passing so quickly was unexpected and heart-breaking, the family is grateful that she was not ill for an extended time.
Shirley was smart, well-read and sensible. She had a wonderful sense of humor that was not raucous but quiet and sharp. She never sought the limelight or recognition, but moved through life quietly, fulfilling her duties as mother, wife, employee and teacher, doing all that was expected of her. She was truly an extraordinary ordinary person and will forever be missed by all who knew her.
An intimate celebration of life gathering will be scheduled by Kelly and Tracey for family and close friends in the near future.
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