Obituary of Shirley May Kushlan

Shirley Kushlan, 96, passed away February 18 surrounded by her family.

She was born in Boise in1927 to Cecil and Helen Richards.  She had one older brother, Allen Richards.

When she was a young girl, the family moved to a farm in Homedale. She attended Homedale schools, graduating in 1945. 

Shirley met John Kushlan in Homedale and they were married September 16, 1946. Together they raised four daughters:  Karen, Sherry, Debbie and Lynne. Shirley and John loved to travel, especially to the Oregon Coast and Jackpot, John passed away in 2009 after 63 years of marriage.

Shirley was very active in the community, joining bridge clubs, bowling leagues, sorority and much more. The whole family were sports fans, following Homedale’s teams for years.

Shirley was a homemaker until she started working as a medical transcriptionist. After several years, she left her job to focus on her family and her increasing interest in golf. 

And increase it did! She joined a league at Purple Sage Golf Club and played as often as she could, making many friends along the way. She also worked at River Bend Golf Club for several years. She continued to golf into her late 80’s and was forced to quit after slipping on ice and breaking her shoulder during Snowmaggedon in 2017.  Recently she joined her great granddaughter Leah at the driving range and was still able to hit the ball decently. And three days before her death her hospice team treated her to a special day at TopGolf, where she was still able to hit the ball fairly decently.

Preceded in death by her husband John, her parents, her brother Allen and sister-in-law Lois, her grandson Michael Solis, great-granddaughter Avery Tiddens and son-in-law Lane Bettencourt

She is survived by her daughters, Karen Solis; Sherry (Dan) Parrill; Debbie Kushlan Bettencourt, and Lynne (Gene) Johnson; seven grandchildren; numerous great grandchildren and great-great grandchildren and nieces Marcia Hoshaw and Janis Thompson.

Special thanks to the wonderful people at The Cottages-Meridian and White Oak Hospice, who made Mom’s journey and ours so much easier.

Graveside funeral service will be held 1:00 pm SUNDAY, February 25, 2024 at Marsing-Homedale Cemetery under the direction of Flahiff Funeral Chapel