Ms. Shirley Ann McClure, 79, of Elkhart, passed away peacefully on Sunday, December 25, 2022 at 3:35 pm at Elkhart General Hospital following an extended illness. She was born in Elkhart on June 20, 1943 to the late Dewey and Amelia Hoopingarner. In 1963, she married her sweetheart Riley McClure, Sr. in Pulaski, Tennessee. He passed away in Elkhart in 2012. Shirley is also preceded in death by a brother, Terry, and her lovable, special son, Riley "Junior", with whom she always had a close relationship.

Surviving Shirley are her children Jed M. McClure, Shelia F. Ball and Steven A. Peepers, all of Elkhart; brothers Bill and Ernie Hoopingarner; sisters Sharon Sparkey and Sally Hoopingarner; grandchildren Marissa, Hannah, Gavin, Jezebelle, Brandon, Michelle, Christopher, Tricia, Johnny, Xya and Ryan, and a whole host of loving great grandchildren, extended family, neighbors and good friends.

Billings Funeral Home and Cremation Services of Elkhart will host Shirley's homegoing service on Tuesday, January 3, 2023 at 4:00 pm. Family friend and Pastor Victor Burson will officiate the service, and public viewing will begin at 3:00 pm. Shirley will then be cremated and interred at Little Pine Cemetery near Goshen at a later date.

Shirley retired from Dexter Axel after 28 years. Outwardly, Shirley was a no-nonsense, very outspoken lady who refused to back down on issues she believed in. She loved to sit on her front porch with Bernie her chihuahua in her lap and watch the squirrels and birds quarrel over the bird feeders, all the time sipping on an ever-present can of Red Bull and dragging on a Marlboro Special Select 100. If that doesn't paint a mental picture for you, we don't know what will. However, Shirley's flip-side was a sincerely loving neighborhood "grandma" who loved the sound of children laughing and watching them play in the yard or in the pool. She loved to cook all kinds of things, thus making her extra-popular not only with the family and grandkids, but with the neighborhood kids as well, because Shirley never turned away a hungry soul.

Shirley was mostly a homebody, not having travelled much in her lifetime. However, she did go to Florida with family a few years back just after Riley, Sr. passed away and liked it so well she vowed to return someday. While she never made the trip again in person, we'd like to believe that her little spot in Heaven has a palm tree or two in it!

Please visit the funeral home's website to share condolences and memories on Shirley's obituary page.