Shirley Billings

Shirley Billings of Fountain Hills died peacefully, surrounded with love, Jan. 23, 2023. She was born May 25, 1925, in Sydney, Australia, to Dorothy Watson Larter and Carl Leonard Larter. She is predeceased in death by her parents, brother, John, and husband, Lloyd.

Always very elegant and full of life, Shirley was a phlebotomist in Sydney during WWII, where she met her husband, Lloyd C. Billings. Following the war, she moved to the U.S. and was married in Kansas, May 31, 1947.

Their lives took them to Ohio, then Tucson, Ariz., where Lloyd was a professor of economics. Shirley was a Docent at the University of Arizona Art Museum. They then moved to Spokane, Wash., where she was the registrar of students at Eastern Washington State University. She thoroughly enjoyed and often spoke fondly of both experiences.

Shirley’s smile lit up a room and her loving personality always made the people around her comfortable. In addition to the many college students she advised at Eastern Washington State, she is missed by nieces and nephews, 26 in the U.S. and three in Australia, plus many grand nieces and nephews. Trips with Uncle Lloyd and Aunt Shirley with their many family members were always memorable.

She and her husband retired to Arizona in 1986, where she became a part of the community, enjoying friends, playing bridge, tennis, reading and participating with the many friends she made at water aerobics.

Later in life, she enjoyed the companionship of Hugh Stevens at Fountain View Village.

A celebration of her life will be held at Messinger Mortuary, 12065 N. Saguaro Blvd., Fountain Hills, AZ, Feb. 25, 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to a favorite institution of higher learning.