Shirley Ann Cruz was born August 12, 1937, to Chester and Ethel Sherwood McCaslin. As the youngest of eleven children she enjoyed helping out on the family dairy farm. Her early life was filled with gathering eggs, picking berries, helping her Mother in the kitchen and tormenting her older brothers.
She was introduced to Pedro T. Cruz in 1956 at her sister Ella Mae’s wedding. He was the best man and brother of the groom. Shirley and Pedro were soon married and their daughter Jeanie was born in 1958. The couple adopted a son, Ricky Pete Cruz, in 1965.
Shirley was an excellent army wife, following her husband from Pennsylvania to Texas and California, where she held down the fort, living in Marina, Ca. while her husband finished a tour of duty in Vietnam, earning both the silver and bronze star. When Pedro retired from the Army in 1971, the family bought a plum tree orchard/Christmas tree farm in Prunedale, CA. and operated it until Pedro’s death in 1992.
After being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2004, Shirley moved to Pennsylvania to live with a sister and then to North Carolina to live with her brother Claire and his wife. In July 2013, she joined her daughter and son-in-law, Earl Siggaard in Sidney, MT., and was welcomed onto Angel Avenue at Sidney Health Center’s Extended Care in March of 2014, where she discovered she loved playing bingo.
Shirley passed away on June 29, 2016, leaving behind her daughter Jeanie Siggaard (Earl); granddaughter, Jaymi Loobey; grandson, Jarrod Mozeak (LeeAnn); great grandson, Zedekiaha; and great granddaughter, Zahara; as well as her two brothers, Claire and Tinker.
Shirley was preceded in death by her husband, Pedro; son, Ricky; her parents and eight siblings.