Three years before the crash of the stock market, back when the roaring Twenties were still roaring, Shirlee Mae Tait was born. Along with her little sister, Patricia, and Mom and Dad, the young family spent every Saturday afternoon seeing all of the new Hollywood movies.
They caused quite the scandal when the entire family went to see “Gone with the Wind,” and its R rated ending. Her father truly did not "Give a damn" what others thought. Her most prized possession, growing up, was a Shirley Temple doll given to her by her Aunt Dot.
Shirlee's young childhood was spent in a house with her grandmother, aunt, mother and father and sister. She loved being surrounded by family in Grandma Connolly’s house.
When World War Two struck, seventeen year old Shirlee dropped out of high school to marry her high school sweetheart, Steven Lindquist, before he deployed overseas. Shirlee traveled with her mother to North Carolina for an intimate ceremony held on July 22nd, 1943.
A crew member of the bomber named ‘Queen of Hearts’, Steve was killed during the Battle of Normandy, when his plane crash landed at New Romney, Kent, after a mission. This was July 17th, 1944. Six days before her first wedding anniversary, Shirlee became a war widow at just eighteen.
As time passed, and the war raged on, Shirlee returned to finish high school, graduating from New Trier High School in Winnetka, IL. She was introduced to a brother of a high school friend, who was stationed at Great Lakes Naval Station, north of Chicago. On this ‘double date’ she met the brother’s friend, Gregory Gibbons.
A romance blossomed.
Living directly across the street from the local fire department, on V-E Day, she listened to the sirens ring for 24 hours straight. Again, on V-J Day, the sirens rang, as the country celebrated the end of the war.
Still deployed overseas, it would be weeks and weeks before Shirlee received news that Greg was coming home. The message, which was still a secret, was written underneath the stamp, so no one would see it. Sssshhh!
During this time, Shirlee went to St Mary’s College in Kansas City, where she earned her associate's degree in art design. In early June 1948, a third sister joined the Tait family. Shirlee and Pat had a brand new baby sister, Pamela. Days later, on June 12th, Shirlee and Greg were married in Evanston, IL, surrounded by family and friends.
As the saying goes, ‘All was right with the world.’
Shirlee and Greg stayed in Illinois for Greg to go to school. First for Greg’s bachelor’s degree and then his doctor of optometry degree. Shirlee worked as a cashier at a local shop and prepared their home for their first baby. Sewing tiny clothes and painting old furniture into new.
Having already learned how hard life can be, the lessons kept coming. In March 1949, their first born son, perfect in every way, just did not take that very first breath. They named him Joseph, after the Patron Saint of Families.
Then, they packed away their hopes and dreams, and waited for a happier tomorrow.
And those happier days came with one, two, three healthy children born in two and a half years. “What one didn’t think of, the other ones did,” Shirlee said many times over. One of her favorite stories was when the neighbor called over at ten o’clock at night and said, “Shirlee, do you know your children are out swinging in the back yard?” Out the window, they had climbed.
The first boy, girl, boy were followed by a boy and then another boy. Years of boy scouts and girl scouts, church school, Christian Mothers and American Legion Auxiliary followed. After two more girls joined the family, they slowly transitioned from scouts to sports.
Shirlee became one of Cambridge High School’s most loyal fans, a constant figure at Friday night football games during the autumn evenings and high up in the bleachers on every Tuesday and Friday night during basketball season. A broken car window during baseball season was just the price she was willing to pay to show her support for the Jackets baseball team.
As the children grew, she had more time for her own interests, including machine knitting. What began with sweaters and vests for children and grandchildren, turned into her own knitting shop, the ‘Cambridge Spinning Wheel’. That grew into the distributorship for Toyota knitting machines for the entire Midwest.
'This land is your land, this land is my land, from California to the New York Island, from the Redwood Forest, to the Gulf stream waters…'
A lifetime love of camping, saw Shirlee and Greg visit each of the fifty states, starting first in a fold up tent trailer, up-sizing to the ‘Tin Coop’ travel trailer and finally to the full size Rambler motor home to travel the ribbon of highways.
Shirlee fulfilled a lifetime dream when she flew with her two sisters, Pat and Pam, to visit the emerald isles of Ireland.
And, of course, she thoroughly loved family get togethers in Montana, bonfire sing-a-longs at Osakis, family reunions at Grand Rapids, dinners at Red Lobsters and so many, many more.
In Shirlee’s young life, she overcame devastating tragedies. The loss of her youngest daughter, Molly along with Molly’s daughter, Jenna Elizabeth in 1996, was a particularly difficult loss to overcome. Following soon after were the deaths of both her sister, Pat, and lifelong best friend, Todd. The two ladies who had held her up during the tragedies in her youth.
Much of the last years of her life have reflected the painful losses of her lifetime. To truly appreciate what Shirlee has accomplished, enjoyed and blessed the world with, reflect upon her long loving marriage, ending only when Greg passed on June 12th, 2009, their 61st anniversary.
Mother of eight, six of her children are spread out across the globe, embracing the lives she gave them. Living, loving and sharing their own lives with children and grandchildren of their own.
