Obituary
Shirley Ann Hambley, 91 of Wichita, KS, formerly of Kalamazoo, passed away at Wesley Medical Center on April 20, 2024. She was born at home on January 26, 1933, in Cadillac, MI to Archie E. and Eva D. (Stewart) Garn.
Shirley attended school in Cadillac until the fifth grade when the family moved to Manton, where she graduated high school. She then attended Spring Arbor College.
Shirley married Delbert Hambley on December 20, 1952, in their home because the church didn't have a piano. Del's teaching job took them to Sheridan, and they welcomed their first daughter Colleen and son Michael. They later moved to Kalamazoo and were joined by their youngest daughter, Sharon.
Shirley enjoyed many enriching long-time community friends from her membership in the Portage Free Methodist Church (now the Renovation Community Church), from the neighborhoods she and Del lived in, and from her 35 years at Sears & Roebuck as a Cashier, handling store payments and receipts, demonstrating trust and integrity as a cherished colleague. Her love of art was reflected in her own enjoyment of painting, as well as the work of others, especially family. She enjoyed playing the piano, something she continued to do through the last week of her life at Larksfield Place Retirement Community in Wichita, where she once again became a loved 'neighbor' and friend - to staff and residents alike. Most of all, she excelled as a wife to her husband, Del, and mother to her children, as well as beloved grandmother. To that end, Shirley expressed a fervent and irrepressible faith in Jesus Christ, whom she earnestly followed and hoped all whom she knew and loved would do the same.
Shirley is survived by her children Colleen (Brian) Glass, Michael (Teresa) Hambley, and Sharon Hambley; grandchildren Tyler Hambley (Crystal), Brieanna Claassen (Andrew), Parker Hambley, Sawyer Hambley, Regan DeWaal (Alex), Jacob Crowell, Jonathan Crowell, Deidre Crowell, and Nina Fairbanks-Glass, seven great-grandchildren, and many close relatives and friends from near and far. She was preceded in death by her parents Archie Edwin and Eva Della Garn (Stewart), her husband Delbert Eugene Hambley, brothers Gerald Bernard Garn (Mary), Stewart Darrell Garn (Helen), and sister Amber Cowan (Robert).
Funeral services for Shirley will be held at Renovation Church 1715 W. Centre Ave. Portage, MI 49024 on Saturday, April 27, 2024. Friends are invited to greet the family from 10:00 am to 11:00 am when a funeral service will begin with pastor Craig Glas officiating. There will be a graveside service at Hope Cemetery at 1:00 pm and a luncheon to follow at the church.
Please visit Shirley's memorial webpage to share memories and condolences with her family at