Shirley Elliott

Monday, June 14, 2021 5:52 pm

Shirley Kay Elliott, 79, of Harpers Ferry, died Friday, June 11, 2021, at Veteran’s Memorial Hospital in Waukon, IA. Funeral services will be held Wednesday, June 16, at 11 a.m. at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Waukon with Fr. Jacob Dunne and Rev. Msgr. Ed Lechtenberg officiating. Burial will be at Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Waukon. Friends may call from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at Martin-Grau Funeral Home in Waukon, where there will be a 3:30 p.m. scripture service.

Shirley Kay Hahn was born Nov. 26, 1941, in Iowa City, IA, the daughter of Maurice and Catherine (Lloyd) Hahn. She was baptized and confirmed at St. Aloysius Catholic Church in Calmar. After graduating from Calmar High School in 1959, she attended Paris Academy in Cedar Rapids, obtaining her cosmetology license. It was while in Cedar Rapids that she met the love of her life, Richard “Dick” Elliott through a mutual friend at the Butterfly Café. They were married April 22, 1961, at St. Aloysius Catholic Church in Calmar. On November 21, 1967 they were blessed with the birth of their son, John.

For the first ten years of their marriage, it was Shirley who supported this young family, working as a beautician, while Dick was working to establish Elliott Jewelers. She continued to work as a beautician, operating her own salon in the back of the Elliott Jewelers’ building, until it was decided that some of her talents would be better utilized in the jewelry store. So off to the GIA in California she went for training in goldsmithing & diamond setting. She did additional training in Minneapolis. Her other specialty was stringing pearls, which she learned from the wife of a pearl farmer from Japan who had become a friend over the years in business. Shirley continued to work at least part-time in the family business until very recently.

Shirley’s hands were never idle. When she wasn’t working at the jewelry store, she kept busy with her many hobbies. Whether it be working crossword or Sudoku puzzles, playing cards or cribbage, cooking or baking, knitting or crocheting, she was always doing something. She was also a stained glass artist & a basket weaver; she hand-weaved 100’s of baskets; signing, numbering and dating each one individually. Over the years she was an active bowler and golfer. In the later years, she participated in water aerobics, led Tai-Chi at the Harpers Ferry Community Center and most notably, played on the three-time National Champion, Harpers Ferry Fireflies Granny Basketball team.

Her faith, her family and her friends were of the utmost importance to Shirley. She was a faithful member of St. Patrick Catholic Church, Waukon and St. Ann-St. Joseph Catholic Church, Harpers Ferry. She cherished time spent with her son, John, and his family, as well as her sister, Mary, and her family; and the rest of her nieces and nephews, too. A friend recently described her best, saying she is “an amazing example of love, kindness and fun”.

Survivors include her husband Richard, “Dick” Elliott of Harpers Ferry; a son John (Shelly) Elliott of Waukon; two granddaughters: Maranda Elliott and friend Kyle Jones and Lauren Elliott and friend Tristan Hansmeier; a sister Mary (Hahn) (Don) Lynch of Oklahoma City, OK; two sisters-in-law: Linda Hahn of Desdemona, TX and Barb Hahn of Thief River Falls, MN; nieces and nephews: Lori Hahn-Cox, Teri (Hahn) Hughes, Jacki Hahn-Rubish, Jim Hahn, Jeb Lynch, and Jamie Lynch. She is preceded in death by her parents; two brothers: Raymond “Jim” Hahn and William “Bill” Hahn.

Casketbearers are Jim Hahn, Jeb Lynch, Jamie, Lynch, Dale Rubish, Pat Hart and Dan Denk. Honorary casketbearers are Jan (Kemp) Isen, Carole Alderdyce and the Fireflies Basketball Team.

Memorials may be in Shirley’s name to St. Patrick’s School Waukon.