Shirley ReNae Egbert

RUPERT – Shirley ReNae Egbert, an 83-year-old resident of Rupert, passed away Sunday, September 13, 2026, at Portneuf Medical Center in Pocatello.

I was born the 9th of April, 1943, in my grandparents home in Albion, Idaho. They got the doctor from the pub to deliver me. I was the first of four children, three girls and one boy, born to Oscar H. Egbert and Melba Bell. As a child, I loved to spend summers and other holidays at my grandparents’ home or with an aunt and uncle on the farm. I was a tomboy. I enjoyed the animals and wide open spaces. I liked to ride horses, the faster the better. Grandma taught me how to milk a cow. I thought I was pretty special getting to go. When I got older and wiser I realized I got to go so my family could have a break.

At the age of eight I started babysitting. My mother taught me how to make bread. She also taught me how to cook as she didn't like to. She taught me how to sew since she was left-handed and I was right-handed. My grandma and a neighbor taught me how to crochet. My mother also gave me a small area of ground where I could grow whatever I wanted but I had to keep it watered and weeded.

I lived a short time in California and Nevada. However, I spent most of my life in the Burley/ Rupert areas. I attended grade school at Miller School in Burley. The girls didn't like me to play with them because I was too rough. I remember the last time they let me play baseball with them. The pitcher threw the ball and I really slugged it hard. It went straight to the center of the pitcher's forehead. She fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes. The principal had to carry her inside. After I had won a wastebasket full of their marbles, the boys wouldn't play marbles with me anymore. The boys liked me to play baseball with them. I was always one of the first to be picked on a team. They called me “slugger.” I was fully grown in the 5th grade in school. I defended those who were picked on and made fun of. I got into several fights protecting the less popular later in life. I live near one of these people. He introduced me to his wife and children as his protector.

In 7th grade we went to the junior high building. In the 8th grade, my feet and legs started hurting. They kept getting worse, but I didn't tell my parents because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to go to school. After the movies on New Year's, when we got to the car I only had one shoe on my feet. My legs hurt so badly all the time, I didn't notice. My mother took me to a specialist. He said I had polio, rheumatic fever, Chorea and peripheral neuritis. I spent months in a hospital bed. I did my homework and was able to graduate the 8th grade with my classmates. (Because my wonderful sister, Emily, brought me my homework everyday. My dad made a frame for my sheets so that they wouldn't touch my legs.)

I attended 9th grade in Burley. The next year I went to Minico High School. I dropped out of school and married Leonard Frederick Johnson. I had our first baby, James Leonard, at 16. Our second, Julia Norean at 17. Our third, Joyce Maureen at 19. I divorced Leonard at 20. At 21, I married Johnny Martin Harlow and had our first baby, Martin Berdet. I divorced him less than a year later. At 23, I met and married Louis Antone (Bud) Marty. (At 24 I had a tubal pregnancy rupture. I nearly bled to death before we got to the hospital 20 minutes away.) In May of 1968, at the age of 25, Bud and I were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple. I loved Bud and was glad to be sealed to him. But at the same time I was devastated that I was not able to have my children sealed to us. That pains me to this day. Only God knows the future. Five months later Bud went to work and never returned.

I graduated from CSI with a high school equivalency diploma in 1993, with my daughte,r Joyce, at the age of 50. I graduated college in 1996 with my son, Martin. We were sitting on the front row of the Honor Society section. I was on the Dean's list all but one semester. I was listed in the national Dean's list book in '94 through ‘95.

I've had many different jobs in my life. Some of them were soda jerk, truck driver, convenience store worker, dishwasher, service station attendant, waitress, moving van packer, CNA, potato factory worker, tutor, heavy equipment operator, driver's education teacher, dairy operator, potato piler operator, chauffeur for an Indian herb doctor, nanny and a maid just to name a few...

My pride and joy are my children. I have three living. James was killed in a train car wreck at 19 years old. I have nine grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren.

Some of my hobbies and interests are gardening, cooking, animals, sewing, painting, reading, photography, watching nature, quilting, embroidery, work, crocheting, learning new things, and poetry. Besides writing poetry, I like to write short stories. I have a poem and a short story published. While at CSI, I took third place in an essay contest there I received a $25 check. (I was a Daughter of Utah Pioneers, organizing the Indian Paint Brush Camp on Jan 17, 2005.)

(Shirley raised her kids mostly on her own teaching them responsibility, perseverance, gratitude, hard work, kindness, how to have fun and always with love. Stories from family.)

She survived by her children, Norene, Joyce (Rob), and Marty; ten grandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren.

She will be remembered for her dedication and love for her family.

She was preceded in death by her parents; a sister; and a son.

The funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, September 24, at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - Rupert Idaho West Stake Center, located at 26 South 100 West, of Rupert, with Bishop Russell Edgar officiating. Burial will follow at Riverside Cemetery in Heyburn.

Family and friends will be received from 5 until 7 p.m. Wednesday, September 23, at Rasmussen-Wilson Funeral Home, 1350 E. 16th Street, in Burley, and from 10 until 10:45 a.m. Thursday, preceding the funeral, at the church.