Shirley Ann (Hascall) Jennings

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(Sept. 4, 1935 - July 7, 2012)

Shirley Ann (Hascall) Jennings died Saturday, July 7, 2012, at Wyoming  Medical Center in Casper. She was 76.

She was born Sept. 4, 1935 in Cheyenne, the oldest of six children born to Ivan Victor Hascall and Helen June Barker Hascall. Ivan and Helen owned and operated the Southside  Superette grocery store in Cheyenne for many years. Shirley was raised and educated in Cheyenne.

She married her high school sweetheart, Austin W. Jennings, on May 10, 1952. Austin began his lifelong energy industry career soon after, moving his growing young family to follow the  work all over Wyoming as well as in Montana, Nebraska and Colorado. Austin’s  lengthy career in the energy industry would take them around the world and back again to Wyoming.

In 1959, as their four young children approached school age, Austin and Shirley chose to settle down in Powell. In the early 1970s, after sons Kit and Mark graduated from high school, Austin accepted a position with OSCO as a well site supervisor based out of Tehran, Iran.

Austin and Shirley and their two younger children, Jeanette and Jim, moved to Tehran for what would become a nearly decade-long hitch. It proved to be the adventure of a lifetime. While in Tehran, Shirley taught art classes to Americans and Iranians alike, allowing her to share her  passion for painting with the community.

When the Shah of Iran was overthrown in the Iranian Islamic Revolution of  1979, Austin and Shirley returned to the United States. Austin accepted a position  with Chevron, which allowed the couple to return to their beloved Rocky Mountains once and for all. Shirley continued to teach art and create an outstanding body of work which is her gift to those of us she left behind.  As an ardent Denver Broncos fan, Shirley held season tickets for decades.   During one memorable season, Shirley seriously injured her right knee while   enthusiastically contributing to the “Rocky Mountain Thunder” at the old Mile High Stadium. She refused to have her knee injury repaired until after the end of the season for fear of missing a single game.  When Austin finally retired from Chevron, he and Shirley built their dream home  in Lander. Shirley continued to dabble in her passion for all things artistic, as well as tending her impressive flower garden. She relished the time she could spend with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Shirley was a direct descendant of George Soule, a passenger on the Mayflower in 1620 and one of 40 pilgrims to sign the Mayflower Compact.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Ivan and Helen; her little brother Jimmy; her sister, Nancy Hascall Loghry; and her beloved poodles Kuchilou, Killer and Bubba.

Shirley is survived by her husband, Austin of Lander; sons Kit (Sheridan) of Casper, Mark and Jim; daughter, Jeanette; brothers, Dick  and Steve and sister, Jane; grandchildren, Austin, Stefanie, Cameron, Jessica,  Melissa, Nebula, Venessa, Justin, and at least a dozen great-grandchildren. 

Services will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday, July 14 at the Word of Faith Family Church, 515 S. Second St., in Lander. Interment will take place  at Mount Hope Cemetery in Lander. Expressions of sympathy can be mailed to  Austin at P.O. Box 51190, Casper, WY 82605.

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