Shirley Dail Kilgore

Shirley Dail Kilgore, 79, died on July 9, 2010. She was born in Fordyce, Arkansas, to the late Collins and Marjorie Wardlaw Kilgore. She was also preceded in death by her stepmother, Edith Kilgore. She is survived by four siblings: brothers, Collins Kilgore (Priscilla) of Little Rock, and Kim Kilgore of Wichita, Kansas, and sisters, Karen Kaiser (Chuck) of Denver, Colorado, and Kris Baber (Brent) of Little Rock. She is also survived by five nephews: Reuben Unruh, of Denver, Colorado, Collins Kilgore Jr., of Nashville, Tennessee, Hank Kilgore, of Washington, D.C., and Greg Baber and Sam Baber, both of Little Rock. Shirley grew up in Fordyce. Her mother contracted tuberculosis when Shirley was an infant and lived in sanatoria most of the rest of her life, dying when Shirley was nine. As a result, Shirley was reared by her father and her grandmothers. Her paternal grandmother owned the Kilgore Hotel where Shirley raced the halls with her cousins, and her maternal grandmother had a boarding house across the street from the hotel where Shirley lived. Shirley was also cared for by her many aunts and uncles. Because of the Cotton Belt and Rock Island Railroads, Shirley grew up in a hub of activity with salesmen and other travelers going to and from the hotel and boarding house. She remembered the war years in Fordyce with nostalgia, describing the pleasure of having a common goal on the home front with everyone participating in war-time projects, such as knitting for the soldiers or selling war bonds. Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant was a first cousin and close friend of Shirley's father. Paul and his wife, Mary Harmon, also cared for Shirley during her childhood, taking her on many trips including a six-week tour of the country. Paul remained a big fan of Shirley's, and Shirley was an ardent Alabama football fan while he was head coach. Paul arranged for Shirley to get to special games, providing her with great seats and first-class accommodations. Shirley's main passion in life, besides her family, was show business, loving movies and popular music from the time she was a child. The Fordyce theater showed three or four movies every week, rotating minor westerns, comedies, and dramas, with the most current movie opening on the weekend and Shirley saw most of those movies at least once. When she was about ten years old, she fell in love with Frank Sinatra, noting in her diary every time she heard him sing on an evening radio show. He remained her favorite singer throughout her life. After graduating from Fordyce High School, Shirley attended Ward-Belmont College, a finishing school for women in Nashville, Tennessee, and Arkansas A & M in College Heights, Arkansas. Shirley moved to Little Rock and was secretary to Governor Francis Cherry from 1952 through 1954. She lived at Sixth and Chester Streets for most of her twenties and thirties. Never having learned to drive, she walked to her subsequent jobs and everywhere else downtown in her straight skirts and high heels, relishing her life as a single girl. Shirley always dreamed of living in Los Angeles, California, to work in some area of the entertainment industry. When she was 37, she learned to drive, bought herself a Camaro, and drove to Los Angeles where she quickly landed a routine secretarial job. She qualified as a contestant on the Match Game, a popular television game show, and won several thousand dollars, enabling her to quit her job and earnestly begin looking for employment in show business. She got a job at the William-Morris Talent Agency where she was thrilled to meet many celebrities. When Shirley left the talent agency, she worked at Norman Lear's Tandem Productions where she was Director of Audience Response. As Director, she monitored public reactions to Lear's provocative, top-rated television shows, keeping Lear and the shows' writers informed about any letters, calls, articles, or other forms of communication concerning the programs. Those programs included "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman," "All in the Family, "The Jeffersons," and "Sanford and Son." Shirley told fascinating stories about the casts of Lear's shows and people she met at Hollywood parties. Some of Shirley's best memories were of getting to see Frank Sinatra in concert several times, both in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, another town she loved. Shirley adored California and her life there but because of health problems she reluctantly returned to little Rock where her family lives. To paraphrase Sinatra's lyrics, Shirley lived a life that was full, she traveled every highway, and much, much more than that, she did it her way. The family will receive guests at Ruebel Funeral Home between 4 and 6 p.m. on Wednesday, July 14, 2010. Arrangements by Ruebel Funeral Home. www.ruebelfuneralhome.com. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Futures for Children, a fund for American Indian children, Futures for Children, 9600 Tennyson St., Albuquerque, N.M. 27122-2282 or online at www.futuresforchildren.org.