Community remembers 'Woody' Shirley

Shirley

BATH - Robert "Woody" Shirley Jr., 62, will be remembered as a humble friend to the community.

The former co-owner of Shirley's Lumber Yard, 7285 Bath-Hammondsport Road, died Wednesday from complications during gall bladder surgery.

"We've gotten along together all of these years," said his brother and business partner, David Shirley. "We didn't have too many disagreements, we didn't always see eye to eye, but it worked out."

"It has been quite a run doing this," he said.

Nearly 50 years ago, the Shirley brothers took over the lumber yard their father, Robert W. Shirley, Sr., started in 1946, he said.

David Shirley said his brother always tried to give customers a fair shake.

"I never heard anyone say a bad thing about him," he said.

Outside of the business, Woody Shirley donated a lot of time to the Bath Rotary Club as treasurer, board member, and keeper of the Rotary trailer, said Allan Johnson, Rotary president.

"He always made sure we didn't go overboard and spend more than we had," said Johnson. "He was the kind of person that was always available, always friendly, and always there when you needed him."

Shirley joined the Rotary in 1994 and in June 2003 he was awarded a Paul Harris Fellow, the highest honor a Rotarian can receive.

"I think he was one of the most humble people I have ever known," said June LeRay Bates, Rotary secretary. "When we awarded him the Paul Harris, he thought there were others more deserving."

Bates said Shirley personified the "service above self" motto of the Rotary.

"All of a sudden, a job was done before you realized, and it was Woody who had done everything," she said.

Shirley was also noted for his sense of humor.

When dictionaries for the Rotary were shipped to his home sent to "Mrs. Shirley Woody" he giggled about the mistake and subsequent ribbing he received, said Colleen Neeley, Steuben Courier publisher and fellow Rotarian.

"He was one of the nicest, most gentle people I have ever met," she said.

The sense of duty and honor Shirley brought to the community, he also brought to his family, said Bates.

"He was always a concerned parent," she said.

Shirley's two sons and nephews work at the lumberyard and and plan to eventually take over the business, said David Shirley. "He thought a lot about his family," he said.

'I think he was one of the most humble people I have ever

known.' - June LeRay Bates,

Rotary secretary