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Shirlene Quipp, age 84 of San Antonio, Texas, passed away on September 4, 2025. She was born on October 6, 1940, in Uvalde, Texas. She moved around quite a bit as a child until finally settling down in San Antonio, Texas. She is preceded in death by her parents Philip and Rosaline Carter, her ex-husband Paul Quipp, and stepdaughter Mona Hamilton. She is survived by her loving family that includes her precious daughter Lora Neill, wonderful son-in-law Jason Neill, and her pride and joy—her grandson—Nathan Neill. Shirlene married Paul Leroy Quipp May 14, 1963; but they divorced around 1971. However, a cute little blond-haired blue-eyed girl came out of that marriage and mom couldn’t have been happier. The two of them set out on a journey and looked after each other until her last breath on September 4, 2025. I have to say, even though she was divorced, if her stepchildren (Butch Quipp, Mona Hamilton, or Joy Hernandez) invited her to something, she made every effort to be there. She always wanted her daughter to have close ties with them. She even kept in touch with their mother, Betty Quipp. Even a few years before his passing, my mother helped take care of her ex-husband, and we all reconciled. This is the type of person my mother was. Mom never traveled much when she was young; but she made sure she took me on a trip when I was 7 to Disneyland and she loved any trip that she went on with us. After she started working for the school district, she did get the opportunity to attend a convention in Hawaii for a week, took one trip with a friend to Graceland, and went to Austin and met Governor Bush. Now you see why I find it important to go and see the world. Of the family she talked about the most that influenced her life was her grandmother, Laura Ethel, which is where I got my name, and her cousin Janice. They have both gone on before her; so, I am glad she will be with them again. Shirlene always loved kids and chose to babysit in her home when Lora was little, before there were “home” daycares, so that she could be home with her. In 1974, she took a job in the cafeteria and became a manager after a year, working at Boone Elementary, just so she would have the same holidays as Lora. She worked at this job for about 34 years, changing schools once, when they moved her out to Helotes Elementary. My mother always had a strong work ethic. The only time I remember her missing work is when her dad passed away and when her grandson was born (one day each)—because this is the type of person my mother was, and this is exactly how she taught me to be. She taught me to be strong and take off only when necessary—I guess that’s why I work two jobs now and stay very busy. Along with working with the kids at school, she also babysat at St. John’s United Methodist Church for both services, hardly ever missing a Sunday. And, if you know my mom, and you were one of the ones she babysat, you became family to her. Along with babysitting at St. John’s, she even became brave and went on a few field trips with the youth group, just so we would have enough chaperones in the summer because the other parents were working, and boy could she tell some stories. She would tell you these involved Dara Raborn, Theresa Booth, and Michael Booth—separate stories of course and would just shake her head and smile. Again, my mom loved and thought of all the kids as part of her family. Then in 1991, Lora married Jason, and her family grew a little bigger because Jason had three brothers and their wives and all eventually had children. In 1995, Lora had Nathan, who became Shirlene’s pride and joy. She would pick him up from daycare each day, just so Lora wouldn’t have to take off early from work. Then in 2006, she moved in with Jason and Lora so she wouldn’t have to be by herself and to help them out. She also drove Nathan back and forth to elementary school and again in high school until he could get his driver’s license. She never missed his ball games and was even around when he dislocated his knee. Mom was the one who stayed with Nathan when we were out of town, shopped with me on weekends (leaving at 9:00 a.m.—one of the reasons the service was scheduled at this time—this was mine and mom’s special time), listened to me when I was upset, ran errands for me, helped around the house for as long as she could, and was the one that told me she needed 24 hour care—because that’s the kind of person she was. It's amazing the amount of pain mom could endure and rarely mentioned anything was going on. She had a stroke in 2019 and only found out because she told me she could not understand what I was saying and I just decided to take her to the doctor because I found it odd and found out she had strep, pneumonia, and had had a stroke. Occasionally, she said her stomach hurt but no one thought anything of it—not even her, but this time I can’t understand how within 10 hours we were in an emergency surgical situation where her BP was too low, her intestines were twisted, and they couldn’t tell me what the outcome would be; but, I had to make a decision at that moment. What do you do? I made the decision to try to save her; but that just sped up the end. All her intestines were dead, and they basically brought her back up to say goodbye. Again, we never knew because this is the type of woman my mother was. Mom never was around much family growing up; so, I would like to mention that she loved the surviving family she had left—a cousin and her family in Devine, two cousins and their families from Donna, and one cousin and his family from Groverton, Texas. As mentioned before, she always loved her stepchildren and spouses, Butch Quipp and wife Golda of San Antonio (who were by her bedside with us at the very end) and Joy Hernandez and husband Ernest of Somerset, Texas. Their children and grandchildren were always family to her. Finally, once Jason and Lora married, the whole Neill side became family to her, and they helped so much in taking care of her whenever needed (especially Leslie while we were in Alaska and she and Donnie were there the weekend before she passed). Glen and Shirley Wolff, Rusty and Darcy Neill and their family, Don and Leslie Neill and their family, Chris Neill and Adrianna Torres and their family, Stephanie Neill and her family. We also have neighbors she thought of as family that helped take care of her on different occasions that are thought of as family that we thank—Tracey Glenney and family and Rick Schumer. I also want to thank her friends Margie, Beverly, Janet, Theresa, and Terry who visited her at The Heights, as well as her roommate’s family (Yolanda), who always visited with her, when they were there. And, her wonderful son-in-law, Jason for always taking her treats and doing puzzles with her. We know she is in a better place and has been made whole and it comforts us to know she is now visiting with friends and family that have gone on before her. Even though she did not make it to her birthday, I know that this weekend she remains with us so she could celebrate one final family birthday. She had to make sure she could somehow be there for her beloved grandson’s 30th birthday with him on September 12, 2025. A Visitation will be held on Friday, September 12, 2025, from 5:00—8:00 p.m. at Mission Park Funeral Chapels North. A Funeral Service will be held Saturday, September 13, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. at Mission Park Funeral Chapels North followed by Funeral Procession to Mission Burial Park North.

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Shirlene Quipp

October 6, 1940 - September 4, 2025