Shirley Ruth Woolery (Rizzi), age 87, formerly of Springfield, Oregon, passed away Sunday, May 24, 2020, in Portland, Oregon.
Born in Mountain City, Nevada, on Jan. 16, 1933, as a child, she lived and helped her family with their ranches in Rowland and Mountain City. Graduating from Elko High School in 1950, she was also Elko County Rodeo Princess that same year.
She earned an associates degree in elementary education from the University of Nevada at Reno in 1952 and taught one-room kindergarten through eighth grade schools in Ruby Valley and Independence Valley, and third grade at Owyhee Elementary School until 1955 when she married Donald C. Woolery of Chico, California, at the Rizzi Ranch in Mountain City, Nevada.
She assisted her husband as a buckaroo while he worked for the Petan Company until they moved to Elko, Nevada, in 1957, where their three children were born. While living in Elko, she worked for John Oldham until 1963 when she and her husband moved to Springfield, Oregon.
For the next 15 years, Shirley and her husband owned and co-managed the Arctic Circle Drive-In in Springfield, where Shirley was an active member of the Welcome Wagon association and Business Women’s Auxiliary Club.
In 1996, when her husband retired, they traveled the West and assisted her brother and his wife on their ranch in Mountain City, Nevada. She enjoyed embroidery, camping (often with her grandchildren), telling family stories, and genealogy. She was a beloved mother, wife, grandmother, community volunteer and friend. She is survived by daughter, Ruth Newberry (Fred); grandson, Darren (Elizabeth) and great-grandchildren, Claire and Nathaniel; granddaughter, Laurel; daughter, Linda Woolery; son, Glenn (Wendy); step-grandson, Andrew (Lena) and step great-grandson Cohan and Koda; step-granddaughter, Kayla and step great-grandson, Karter; step-great granddaughter Scarlett and step-granddaughter, Channel and step great-grandson, Kordell; and numerous nieces, nephews and friends.
