Shirley M Harding

Shirley Madeleine Harding (88)
Born May 25, 1936 Alamo, Texas; Died October 22,2024 Osage Beach, Missouri
During WW II, Shirley stayed with her grandmother, along with her two brothers, in a home with no running water. She often talked about walking from the school bus-stop to home, then walking with her grandmother to the town post office, hoping for letters from her parents or her uncle in Europe. Her parents were sent to Oregon in the war shipyards as welders. They made good money at the time,1945, making $75 dollars a week. As she got older, she volunteered at the local Salvation Army. And in the 1950's, she got married and had three children, Katherine, Michael and Lisa. While her husband, Otto Adams, served in the Army in Korea, she stayed in a one room apartment with a woodstove for heat. This was near Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. There was no base housing for dependents at the time. With no phone, she would walk to a nearby neighbor's house to use the phone to call her parents in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. In the early 1960's, she moved to California during the Space Administration's peak time. In 1970 she married Donald Harding and they have celebrated 54 years of marriage together. In 1973, they established a home in Garden Grove, California. In 1995, during a bird show near Los Angeles, a baby Amazon Parrot walked across a long table and climb into her hand and into her heart. They named her Liz-Beth. She is with them today, 29 years later. In 2005, they moved to Osage Beach, Missouri. (before the housing crisis of 2007) They loved living in Osage Beach with seeing nature walk up to the back door and views of the Lake of the Ozarks. And during their final years, the Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church committed to providing Pastoral Care for the aging couple. Shirley had a wonderful, long life and leaves a legacy of loving memories to everyone whoever knew her, including a brother (91) and sister-in-law, three children, six grandchildren,14 great grandchildren and one great-great grandchild on the way.
Memorial Mass to be held at Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church, 11:00am, November 2, 2024. Located at 2411 Bagnell Dam Blvd, Lake Ozark, MO 65049, (573)365-2241.
Burial will be private for family in California.
Arrangements are under the direction of Hedges-Scott-Millard Funeral Homes, 1270 S Business Route 5, Camdenton, MO 65020 (573) 346-2090. Condolences may be left online for the family at www.hedgesscottmillard.com.