Shirley June Babb, 74, of Holton, KS passed away April 18, 2010 at her home.
Shirley was born August 14, 1935 at Fairview, Kansas to John Henry and Mildred Jennifer Houlette Fraser. She has five sisters: Joan Hall of Holton, Kansas, Mary Kleppe and husband Paul of Hiawatha, Kansas, Betty Adams of Central Point, Oregon, and Janice Kathrens and husband John of Holton, Kansas and one brother Glen "Jake" and wife Nancy Fraser of Holton, Kansas. She was preceded in death by her sister Jean Zimmerman of Troy,and Jerold Kenneth Fraser of Topeka, Kansas.
She married Wallace Kathrens in 1955. They divorced in 1971. They were parents to three sons, Steven Kathrens and his wife Diane, Larry Kathrens and his wife Rae and Jeffrey Kathrens and his wife Nancy all of Holton, Kansas. She married Virgil Babb at Holton in 1973, he survives. She has one stepson Dwayne Babb and his wife Marion of Lawrence, Kansas and stepdaughters Patricia Kessler and her husband Rob of Dallas, Texas, and Anna Hayden of Los Angeles, California. Anna passed away in July, 2000. She has ten grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by a granddaughter Kelly Ane Kathrens.
Shirley worked for United Telephone in Holton for eight years before she and Virgil moved to southern California where she worked for GTE-CA from 1973-1988. She retired from GTE and she and her husband managed a motel in Castaic, California that Virgil and partners had built and owned. After nineteen years in California they moved back to Holton in 1992. They built a home northwest of Holton where they currently reside.
Shirley was an active member of Evangel United Methodist Church. A Celebration of Life will be at 7:00 p.m. Thursday evening, April 22, 2010 at Evangel United Methodist Church in the Spiritual Life Center. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to Jackson County Friends of Hospice c/o Mercer Funeral Home, P.O. Box 270, Holton, KS 66436.