Shirley A. (Schirle) Thacker

Shirley A. (Schirle) Thacker, age 80, of Evansville, passed away at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, January 30, 2021, at Heritage Center.

Shirley was born May 1, 1940 (MayDay Girl), in Evansville, IN, to John Schirle and Lucille (Marx) Hasten at St. Mary’s Hospital. Her life started out tough with her dad passing away when she was 2 years old. Shirley was born crippled, and at the age of 2, her mother traveled with her to St. Louis to the Shriner’s Hospital where she learned to walk after a few years. She graduated the class of 1958, the first graduating class from the new North High School on Stringtown Road.

Shirley moved to California to be with family. It was there she met Jerry Thacker, Sr. They married July 3, 1959 while living in the LA area. She loved working as a school bus driver since she was able to drive all the movie stars’ kids to Hollywood Elementary. Shirley later worked at Douglas Aircraft and Hughes as the first woman working on the assembly line. Shirley also worked as a guard for Clark Security while weighing only 90 lbs and standing 5’ tall. She was full of spunk. She enjoyed a good party, watching scary movies, watching TV all night, and going to real ghost hunting. Shirley loved to dance, especially to Elvis. She and her kid sister saw him at one of his first performances. Shirley then began her vast collection of Elvis memorabilia. Most of all, she loved her family and friends.

After Shirley moved back to her hometown, she became a stay-at-home-mom as well as a daycare provider for her family and neighbors. She was of the Catholic faith and attended St. Anthony’s Catholic Church along with her youngest two children. Shirley was a caring soul and never had anything negative to say about anyone, and she just loved everyone. She is going to be missed by all who knew her.

Shirley is survived by her son, Jerry Thacker, Jr. (Linda); grandchildren, Aarryn Thacker (Kourtney), whom she raised from birth, Isaiah Smith, whom she raised from ages 12-18, up until she moved to the nursing home, Emral Smith, Jerry Thacker, III, Shawn Thacker (Jenna), Shanon Thacker Hering (Mark); 6 great grandchildren with one great grandson on the way; brother, Earl Chapman (Donna); and brother-in-law, Bernie Howard.

Shirley is preceded in death by her parents in 1942 and 1995; husband, Jerry Thacker, Sr.. who passed away in 2016; older sister, Shelby (Schirle) Southerland (Jack); baby sister, Arnetta (Hasten) Howard; son, John H. Thacker, who passed away in 2007; daughter, Pennie Thacker, who passed away in 2012; and great granddaughter, Karleigh, who passed away in 2019.

Funeral Services will be held at 1:00 p.m., Tuesday, February 2, 2021, at Boone Funeral Home East Chapel – A Family Tradition Funeral Home, 5330 Washington Avenue with Father Alex Zenthoefer officiating. A Live Stream will be available beginning twenty minutes prior to the service time. Please visit www.boonefuneralhome.net, select your loved one’s obituary, scroll to the bottom of the page, and click Live Stream. Burial will be in Memorial Park Cemetery. 

Friends may visit from 10:00 a.m. until service time, Tuesday, February 2, 2021, at BOONE FUNERAL HOME EAST CHAPEL.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to: Shriner’s Hospital at 4400 Clayton Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63110 or your favorite charity.

Condolences may be made to the family online at boonefuneralhome.net

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