Shirley Mary Jeanette Dimke, 87, of Clarkston, passed peacefully Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021, of natural causes. She spent her last days quietly at home, surrounded by her family.
She was bom Sept. 23, 1934, in Vulcan, Alberta, Canada, to Ben and Hazel Spooner. Shirley grew up on a wheat farm amidst the swirling winds of the Canadian prairie near Lomond, Alberta. It was so, windy, in fact, that her earliest drawings of girl stick figures were depicted with their hair extending from one side of their heads. This unique artistic flare would blossom later in life into a passion for sculpting. It would lead to the creation and casting of numerous bronze statues and figurines that captured the essence of important characters and creatures from her early life in the western Canadian high plains. She and her three siblings rode to a classic, one-room schoolhouse each day in a horse-drawn cart. One particularly cold morning, the four of them dutifully arrived only to find the schoolhouse empty and the wood stove unlit. Apparently other parents, whose children usually rode to school on horseback, considered the 52 below zero temperatures to be a little too chilly for a school day, even for Canadians. However, her own father, unaware of this, had sent the children on to school anyway. In his defense, his thermometer’s scale only went down to 20 below.
In light of this misadventure, and perhaps in a remorseful pursuit of a somewhat warmer climate, her Montana-born parents moved the family due south to the “Banana Belt” town of Clarkston in 1945. There, she attended junior high and high school and quickly proceeded to anchor the women’s tennis team, cheerleading squad and the drum section of in the CHS marching band, graduating with honors in 1952. “Things got a lot easier for me,” she once observed, “once I finally had a chance to thaw out.”
A year later she married Vernon Dimke, a bold young home builder. Together, they built a construction company, eventually completing dozens of distinctive private homes, buildings and apartment units in Lewiston, Clarkston and surrounding cities. They also established a Lewiston building supply store: Key Distributors.
Shirley is the proud mother of three children. Her deep devotion to both her family and her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was dearly evident throughout her life. In her later years, Shirley revived her early skill with percussion instruments to provide rhythm for the church’s musical team. She also delivered many memorable and inspirational talks over several decades as church superintendent. A lifelong athlete and tennis enthusiast, she surprised other competitors only about half her age (and perhaps even herself) by winning the Women’s Regional Tennis Tournament at age 42.
She served as a Cub Scout den mother and later as a 4-H leader. She became a “second mother” to a barnyard full of horses, a flock of peacocks and a variety of other animals, as well as dozens of adoring teens, offering them encouragement and guidance through life’s many challenges and adventures. These included numerous campouts, nature excursions, boating and rafting trips, horse-riding competitions and some truly unforgettable long-distance trail rides that ventured deep into the heart of one of her favorite wilderness retreats: the pristine Wallowa Mountain Lake Country of northern Oregon.
Well-known for her hospitality, visitors rarely left her home without fully satiated bellies. Shirley frequently welcomed upwards of a hundred dinner guests, family friends, church members, and 4-H Club kids to her table every month.
After more than 52 years of a full life together, her husband, Vern, preceded her in death, as did her parents; two older sisters, Francis Roberts and Florence Crow; and her beloved daughter, Debbie Wenzel.
She is survived by her brother, Richard Spooner of Clarkston; her (half-Vulcan) son, Dan and his wife, Mollie Mossman; and her youngest daughter, Tammy and her husband Bill Poole; five grandchildren, Dolly and her husband, Steve Garnecki of Tunkhannock, Pa., Pollyanna and her husband, Greg Bayman of Kinnelon, N.J., Heather and her husband, Abe Bergamo of Clarkston, Aaron Poole and his wife, Karen of Clarkston and Tommy Poole and his wife, Emily of Spokane; 14 great-grandchildren, Calvin, Autumn and Evangeline Gamecki, Jonah, Annabelle and Elijah Bayman, Hadley, Enzo and Avery Bergamo, Logan and Olivia Poole, and Ruby, Indy and Penny Poole.
A viewing will be held from 10 a.m.-noon Oct. 12, at Merchant’s Funeral Home in Clarkston. A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m.at the funeral home followed by a graveside service. Thereafter, in the final installment of one of Shirley’s most cherished traditions, a catered dinner will follow for all attending guests. Local charities of her choice include: Asotin County Food Bank, Union Gospel Mission, Beacon Christian School, and Cornerstone Christian School.
Sign the online guestbook at merchantfuneralhome.com.