Shirley Jo Woodruff

On Tuesday, September 15, 2026, Shirley Woodruff, loving widowed mother, passed away at the age of 75 in South Jordan, Utah. Shirley was born on May 30, 1951, in Richmond, California to Vern and Betty.

Shirley lived in the bay area until she attended California State University Sacramento where she graduated with a teaching degree. While at college, Shirley became familiar with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was baptized. On the day of her baptism, she met her husband Carl at a young adult dance. He said to her, “Surely, I’ll remember your name, Shirley” but still struggled to do so at first. They were married for time and all eternity in the Idaho Falls temple. They raised five boys: Dan, Dave, Ben, Mark, and Joe.

Shirley followed her husband Carl each time he was stationed in a new city where she raised her boys and taught school. She taught kindergarten and other grades for multiple years until Carl retired from the Navy and they settled in Idaho Falls, ID, where she then taught 7th grade reading for almost 20 years until she retired. She was able to retire early for medical reasons since she was diagnosed with Rheumatoid arthritis when she was 30 years old. This chronic disease never stopped her from being a loving mother. She raised five boys, giving them her best and encouraging them to do their best.

Once retired, Shirley devoted much of her time and talents to genealogy work. She worked with several genealogy associations and groups to further genealogy work. She served several missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints as a genealogy worker and as a co-director of a genealogy center with her husband Carl. Both of them would often be found taking trips to cemeteries to take pictures of headstones so that they could be made available online. Some of those cemeteries had been forgotten and were hard to find.

Shirley was preceded in death by her husband, Carl, as well as her father, Vern, and her mother, Betty. She is survived by her five children, Dan, Dave, Ben, Mark, and Joe; her cousin, Jim; and most of her many grandchildren.

Funeral services were held on Friday, September 18, 2026 at 2:30 PM, at the Tonaquint Cemetery located at 1777 S Dixie Dr, St. George, UT 84770.