Shirley Irene Ketchum

Shirley Irene Ketchum passed away Monday, January 16, 2023 at her home in Opportunity. She was born in Butte, Friday, May 1, 1925, one of two girls to Rudolph and Sadie (Lohi) Jokela. Shirley was raised in Butte and Menahga, Minnesota, but always made Butte her home. She was a girl scout growing up and participated in theater. She was rehearsing for the Mikado, as one of the three little maids, when she learned Pearl Harbor had been bombed. She spent the war working in the Bremerton shipyards. Upon returning to Butte, Shirley had three children who she raised as a hardworking single mother. She worked for Nabisco Products and was named Operations Manager for the Butte district in the mid 1970’s, a time when very few women held such positions. She retired in 1987. Though a tiny woman, Shirley had a big personality. She loved to tell doctors, with a straight face, she was 6 feet tall, though she barely broke 5 feet. After having knee replacement at the young age of 84, Shirley lived independently in her home in uptown Butte until the age of 95. Shirley is preceded in death by her parents, Rudolph and Sadie Jokela, her only sister, Peggy Rand, her son Rudy who passed away in 1984, her son-in-law, Dale Herbort, grandson, David Horsley and her life mate and friend, Matthew Vucurovich. Shirley and Matt traveled all around the country including attending the Orange Bowl in Florida and viewing the fall leaves in New England. Survivors include her daughter and son-in-law, Kerry Lea Ketchum and Tom Burkhart of Opportunity; daughter, Susan Ketchum of Ajo, Arizona; daughter-in-law, Christine Ketchum of Butte; grandchildren: Thomas and Amanda Burkart of Helena and their daughter Evelyn; James Burkhart and Kat Cowley of Missoula; Rachel DeVore and Kevin Buckwald of Ft. Lauderdale Florida and her son, Kyle Devore of Los Angeles, CA; Rudy Ketchum and Brandy Bartscher and his children Hunter, Cooper, and Piper. Shirley’s remains are in Wayrynen-Richards Funeral Home where friends may call Saturday morning beginning at 10 o’clock. Funeral services will be conducted at 11 o’clock in the Funeral home and interment will be in Sunset Memorial Park at a later date.

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Shirley Irene Ketchum

May 1, 1925 - January 16, 2023