Shirley Ann Friermood

FRIERMOOD, Shirley Ann (Murrell), died peacefully on August 30, 2025, at her home. Born on July 30, 1936, she grew up in Kettering and graduated from Fairmont High School in 1954. She worked as a librarian at NCR and in multiple administrative assistant jobs within Kettering City Schools, retiring from the Treasurer’s office. With grace, she survived a heart attack, breast cancer, and skin cancer.

Shirley was creative and talented and had a well-curated artistic taste. She created many beautiful oil paintings and taught many grateful students. She passed her artistic spark on to her daughters, who passed it along to their daughters. She encouraged all and shared her skills and knowledge generously, lending her enthusiasm, experience, and artistic eye to their projects. Some of the family’s favorite projects were large-scale sand sculptures at the beach.

She was also seriously into knitting. In the late 1950s, when a dear friend couldn’t get the hang of it, Shirley knitted a Christmas stocking for her friend’s newborn first child. This was the first of dozens. Her church has been counting on her to knit regular socks for their annual bazaar for quite a few years now. And she sent numerous baby hats to the Click for Babies campaign.

Starting when she was a young child, she attended the congregation that eventually became Church of the Cross United Methodist. She was active in many capacities, including teaching preschool, working with youth fellowship, and contributing to the church archives.

She had a bit of an obsession with sports, especially UD men’s basketball, and more recently, Cincinnati Reds baseball. The latter took her back to childhood memories of sitting with her dad by the radio while he scored the games. Shirley remained close to many of her high-school classmates throughout her entire life. She was a key player in organizing class reunions and her smaller-scale monthly lunch group. She was also an avid reader.

Shirley was preceded in death by her husband of 56 years, Glenn Friermood; her parents, Margaret (Miller) and Brody Murrell; and her brother Charles Murrell.

She is survived by her sister and brother-in-law Carole (Murrell) and Jerry Swope; her daughters and sons-in-law, Jayne and Thom Nash and Julie and Steve Maschino; granddaughters and grandsons-in-law Lindsey (Maschino) and Vince Contreras; Katherine Nash and Eric Curfman; and Olivia (Maschino) and Nathan Moore; granddaughter Abigail Maschino; great-granddaughter Harper Contreras; great-grandson Collins Contreras; and nieces and nephews she loved dearly.

Per Shirley’s wishes, the family is planning a private memorial gathering at a later date. Please consider a donation in her name to any organization inspired by the above. And she’d be thrilled for you to create art, do needlework, or read in her honor.