Shirley Asbury

On April 30th, Shirley Joyce Asbury passed away in Portland,Oregon at the age of 99.
Shirley was born in Fremont, Nebraska and was the third of five children born to Kurt and Adella Weiche.

World War Two brought Shirley and her one-year-old son, Jimmy, to Portland to work in the shipyards as a “Rosie the Riveter” with her high school friend, Bonny Brewer.

She soon met her future husband, also named Jim, Evan James Asbury. They married, bought a piece of property, and proceeded to live in the garage as they built their dream home, board by board. They moved into the home, and paid off their very small loan, and celebrated by burning that mortgage note.

Shirley had a career with First National Bank, later to become Wells Fargo Bank working in the newly created credit card department and then moving on to the credit card department.

After retiring over 30 years later, Shirley loved taking care of her garden until health issues had her eventually move into a care home, where she added more friends to her life that loved her like family. She passed peacefully in the night and is survived by 3 grandchildren, 6 great grandchildren, several nephews and nieces, great nieces and nephews, and great, great nieces and nephews.

The memorial service will be held on Friday, May 19th at 1:00 at Rose City Cemetery and Funeral Home in Portland, Oregon. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Shirley’s favorite charity, St Jude’s.

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