Shirley Ruth Brandley Donahue passed away from this world Tuesday, October 15, 2024.  She was born May 21, 1932 in Salt Lake City, UT to Arthur Paul Brandley and Ruth Matilda Winters.

Mom was the oldest of 5 siblings. Her sister, Barbara Brandley Harris and brother, Kent Brandley were also born in Salt Lake City. Her parents divorced when she was a teenager. Her mother, Ruth, married Richard Schatzer from Hamilton, MT later and had 2 more children; Mary and Jimmy. All of mom's siblings preceded her in death.

Mom attended elementary school, Jr. High School and High School in different states as her parents moved around a lot. She graduated from Highland High School in Albuquerque, NM.  Mom always loved Albuquerque.

After mom's senior year of high school she, Barbara and Kent went to live with Aunt Marie and Uncle Elmo Coburn in St. Anthony, ID. They were neighbors with Vera and Bert Loveland. Mom met Jay Loveland through that connection. She and Jay were married in 1952. They lived on a farm in Twin Groves, ID which is just NE of St. Anthony. They had 3 children together, Cherie, Karen and Laurie. They later divorced.

Mom married Murray Briggs from Newdale Idaho, son of Benjamin and Sylvia Briggs in 1964.  They had one son, John Benjamin Briggs.

We grew up with Mom and Murray, living in Newdale, during the school year and then with Jay and Helen Loveland from St. Anthony during the summers. Jay and Helen had a son, Michael, and Helen had 6 daughters from a previous marriage. When Mom would send us to Dad's for the summer, there were (at times) 10 children in their home.

Mom divorced Murray when John was 6 or 7 and moved to Albuquerque, NM where she lived for the majority of her adult life. She moved back to Rexburg, ID to be closer to her children, but it didn't work out so she moved back to Albuquerque until December of 2023 when we moved her to assisted living in Rexburg where she eventually passed away.

While in Albuquerque, Mom met and married John Donahue, a former military vet and fireman.  He was originally from Connecticut. Mom and John Donahue were together since 1989 when they were first married. John, mom always called him "Donahue," was there for her for 30 years.  On Thanksgiving Day of 2023, she fell in her apartment. She couldn't get up and laid their until the next evening when John came over because she wasn't answering her phone and found her suffering on the floor. He called the paramedics and then asked us to move her up here because he couldn't take care of her anymore.

Mom earned 2 masters degrees during her lifetime; one in Library Science and the other in Elementary Education. She was librarian at South Fremont Jr. High school for several years before moving to Albuquerque and entering the Albuquerque Public School system where she taught elementary education until she retired. She blessed many, many children during her years as a teacher by teaching them to read, write, do math and exposed them to her love of music.  Every year her class would perform songs in an end of year program that she had taught them during the year. Many of the songs were ones she sang with us on car trips. Horsey, Horsey, on your way was one that was passed down to the next generation.

Mom taught us kids to sing and love music. She took us to the first production of the Sound of Music performed at Ricks College in the late 1960's. She taught us to work by cleaning our rooms and hanging up our clothes. We learned to do dishes and laundry. She gave us kids opportunities to ride horses, learn piano, play guitar, go on fun trips to Mexico, Hawaii, New York City, Las Vegas, etc. She also took us to local places to learn to swim and ski; Green Canyon Hot Springs and Bear Gulch and Grand Targhee Ski Resorts. One particular trip coming home from Green Canyon on a winter day, Mom was driving the family Impala with a load of people. The roads were slick but you couldn't see the black ice. She veered off the road into the gutter going pretty darn fast. From another car I watched the entire scene. The snow flew up over the car like a white frosty waterfall! Luckily, no one was hurt. One other funny driving adventure was when Mom went down a one-way street in Idaho Falls the wrong way. It was night time and she was mortified! We just giggled at her from the back seat.

We took family trips to Hamilton, MT with Murray and Mom. We'd ride in the camper on the back of Dad's pickup. Cherie would write signs and press them up against the window when cars would pass us. The signs said "Help, I'm being Kidnapped". Mom came unglued when she found out Cherie had done that. In Hamilton, we met Uncle Kent. He was living in Alaska so he brought some Alaskan oysters to Montana for a family reunion. That was the one and only time we ever had oysters. Uncle Kent loved Mom very much. He would also come to Newdale during spud harvest and bring gifts and exotic food for family gatherings.

Another memorable family trip was when Mom and Murray drove us to Albuquerque to visit her sister Barbara and their family. It was during Christmas vacation. Us girls were quite a bit older than John, so we remember this accident clearly. John and our cousin Jimmy were jumping on the bed in Jimmy's room. One went up while the other one came down and they collided. We spent that Christmas Eve at the emergency room getting a chin and the top of a head sutured!

When Mom divorced Murray, John went to live with him full time. Cherie, Karen and Laurie went to live with Jay and Helen full time.

Mom loved dogs. She had dogs all of her adult life. She cried last year when she could no longer take care of a dog. Some of her dogs were Scruffy, Heidi, Shadow, Bonnie, Clyde, Choo-Choo, Sugar and Sugar. She named the last dog the same as the previous dog because she was becoming forgetful and it was easier for her. Plus the dog was pure white.

Mom was an avid gardener. She loved planting flowers, trimming trees, weeding, etc. About 20 years ago she was working in her front yard "dead heading" as she called it. She turned around too quickly. She used the term "pirouette" to describe how she spun around and landed on the concrete arm first then her head. She had surgery to fix her hand and wrist and also had an orbital fracture including an concussion. 2 weeks after the accident, she was back out gardening.

The last 10 or so years of Mom's life she started hearing and seeing things. She lived alone so there wasn't anyone to verify what was going on. She had one particular worry that involved a man who would climb over her back fence and lay out his sleeping bag in her backyard and sleep, Then he moved to the roof of her house. Mom called the police several times. Finally, Donahue suggested she sell her home on Tony Sanchez and move to senior living in Albuquerque. She sold her home and made the move to Bear Canyon Estates where was lived for 8 or 9 years until her accident last Thanksgiving. The man had followed her moving van and continued to haunt mom in her new home by playing loud music in the hallways and outside her apartment. He had other residents sign petitions to make Mom move from Bear Canyon. Donahue took her to the doctor where she was diagnosed with dementia. It wasn't devastating at all to mom. She totally believed that what she saw, dreamed, and heard, was all real. The dementia finally caused her the inability to speak/communicate and eat.

The caregivers at the Homestead Assisted Living played an huge part in Mom's happiness the last year of her life. They were so sweet and kind to her. She felt safe and loved and she never mentioned the "man on the roof" again. One fun experience Mom had while living at the Homestead was going fishing. She had a friend who died a few months ago who went fishing with them. This friend, Ann Crowfoot, was an avid fisherwoman. Mom said how fun it was to watch her throw out her line and reel in a beautiful rainbow trout! Homestead also took Mom to Bear World, Green Canyon, and other shopping outings.

If Mom were writing this history, she would tell you detailed stories. Her life was full, it was not boring. She was a member of the red hats society in Albuquerque. She had friends that she'd travel with. She'd go dancing often. She'd listen to music and play her piano. She read books like crazy. She knew all the famous authors. She also knew all the most famous fashion designers.  She loved the Navajo jewelry she could buy in New Mexico. She had more turquoise than you can imagine. She wore all her jewelry. However, she loved shoes too, but didn't wear all the shoes. She had a shoe store in her closest. It felt like Mom was ahead of her time her entire life.  Her independence and determination were two generations too soon. If she wanted to do something, she did it. She really did do it her way!

The last and more important thing about our mom is that she loved us. Even though we weren't with her very much, she did her best to come to our homes when we had babies to help while we recovered. We were always invited to Albuquerque for Thanksgiving or Christmas. It was easier for her to come up here than for us to get down there as our families were growing and responsibilities and expenses didn't allow us to drive down there to visit her often. She never forgot a birthday and always worried about what to give us for Christmas. When money became an issue for her she still wanted to give us gifts. She loved all of us. We all loved her. We will miss her and remember and appreciate her for all she did for us over the years. All of our homes have items she gave us over the years. They'll be a fond remembrance for years to come! Love you Mom! God bless you and we'll see you again in Heaven.