Shirley Kay Elliott

Shirley Kay Elliott, 79, of Harpers Ferry, IA, died Friday, June 11, 2021, at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon, IA. Funeral services will be held Wednesday, June 16th, at 11:00 AM at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Waukon with Fr. Jacob Dunne and Rev Msgr. Ed Lechtenberg officiating. Burial will be at Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Waukon. Friends may call from 4:00 - 7:00 PM Tuesday at Martin-Grau Funeral Home in Waukon, where there will be a 3:30 PM scripture service. Memorials may be made in Shirley's name to St. Patrick's School in Waukon.

Shirley Kay Hahn was born November 26, 1941, in Iowa City, IA, the daughter of Maurice and Catherine (Lloyd) Hahn. She was baptized and confirmed at St. Aloysius Catholic Church in Calmar, IA. After graduating from Calmar High School in 1959, she attended Paris Academy in Cedar Rapids, obtaining her cosmetology license. It was while in Cedar Rapids that she met the love of her life, Richard "Dick" Elliott, through a mutual friend at the Butterfly Café. They were married April 22, 1961, at St. Aloysius Catholic Church in Calmar. On November 21, 1967, they were blessed with the birth of their son John.

For the first ten years of their marriage, it was Shirley who supported this young family, working as a beautician, while Dick was working to establish Elliott Jewelers. She continued to work as a beautician, operating her own salon in the back of Elliott Jewelers' building, until it was decided that some of her talents would be better utilized in the jewelry store. So off to the GIA in California she went for training in goldsmithing and diamond setting. She did additional training in Minneapolis. Her other specialty was stringing pearls, which she learned from the wife of a pearl farmer from Japan who had become a friend over the years in business. Shirley continued to work at least part-time in the family business until very recently.

Shirley's hands were never idle. When she wasn't working at the jewelry store, she kept busy with her many hobbies. Whether it be working crossword or Sudoku puzzles, playing cards or cribbage, cooking or baking, knitting or crocheting, she was always doing something. She was also a stained-glass artist and a basket weaver; she hand-weaved 100s of baskets, signing, numbering, and dating each one individually. Over the years, she was an active bowler and golfer. In later years, she participated in water aerobics, led Tai-Chi at the Harpers Ferry Community Center, and most notably, played on the three-time national champion Harpers Ferry Fireflies Granny Basketball team.

Her faith, her family, and her friends were the utmost importance to Shirley. She was a faithful member of St. Patrick Catholic Church in Waukon and St. Ann-St. Joseph Catholic Church in Harpers Ferry. She cherished time spent with her son John and his family, as well as with her sister Mary and her family, and the rest of her nieces and nephews, too. A friend recently described her best, saying she is "an amazing example of love, kindness, and fun".

Survivors include her husband Richard "Dick" Elliott of Harpers Ferry; a son John (Shelly) Elliott of Waukon; two granddaughters: Maranda Elliott and friend Kyle Jones and Lauren Elliott and friend Tristan Hansmeier; a sister Mary (Hahn) (Don) Lynch of Oklahoma City, OK; two sisters-in-law: Linda Hahn of Desdemona, TX, and Barb Hahn of Thief River Falls, MN; and nieces and nephews: Lori Hahn-Cox, Teri (Hahn) Hughes, Jacki Hahn-Rubish, Jim Hahn, Jeb Lynch, and Jamie Lynch. She was preceded in death by her parents and two brothers: Raymond "Jim" Hahn and William "Bill" Hahn.

Honorary casketbearers are Jan (Kemp) Isen, Carole Alderdyce, Connie Benedict, and the Fireflies Basketball Team. Casketbearers are Jim Hahn, Jeb Lynch, Jamie Lynch, Dale Rubish, Pat Hart, and Dan Denk.