Let me tell you about my wife she is an Angel!
Shelly was born May 18, 1965, to Katheryn and Emery Webster, she was the fourth child of nine, her family was living in Murray, Utah. She was young, strong, and beautiful. She enjoyed camping with her family, animals of all kinds especially cats and dogs, and being with friends. She was a great sister and did many chores around the house and helped tend her younger siblings. In high school, she enjoyed playing the clarinet in the marching band. After graduating from Alta High School in 1983, she became a talented and skilled beautician. It was a profession she loved, as she was an engaging conversationalist and loved people.
In the summer of 1988, she married me (Dave) in the Salt Lake Temple. She became a young mother to our beautiful son Adam. What a wonderful blessing to be a parent. Adam brought so much joy, goodness, and such a good heart with him. We are both so proud of him.
Shelly always had a very strong testimony of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and trusted in them throughout her life. She cherished her membership in his Church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) and looked for ways to serve. She was very proud to be a descendent of an early church prophet, Wilford Woodruff, through her mother’s line.
In her mid-twenties, her life began to change. She was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. It came quickly and hard! In one week, she went from not knowing she had M.S., to a bed and, unable to get out of it by herself. After the first episode subsided, it would come and go, each time bringing and leaving different trials. Simple things became more difficult and small things became precious. Blessings from Heaven flowed plentifully and often, sometimes directly from Heaven, other times through the hands of family and friends.
Later, it became more constant and more severe. Shelly accepted this challenge with hope and through many trials became stronger and more perfected. With her body ravaged in the end, she was unable to walk and had difficulty speaking. This gave her the perfect disguise to modestly hide how truly strong and wonderful she was for those who judged only on the physical. Those that got to know her spirit knew the truth - she was in no way weak. She is the strongest person I have ever met.
To those of you that loved, befriended, and included Shelly and her family in your lives and showed her that love, thank you! We are eternally grateful. We hope you know how much it meant to her, and how she looked forward to being with you. It was one of her favorite things.
Shelly truly loved being with her family and friends, and freely gave of her love. She loved holding and squeezing hands. She would often reach out to people, sometimes even strangers, with a look of, “please take my hand.” She could melt even the busiest or hardest heart. If you received a Shelly squeeze, you were a lucky person. She would hold and squeeze you the same way she held on to life, tightly and never wanting to let go.
Shelly loved dogs. Her favorite was Casper, a Maltese poodle that loved her with a strong and unconditional love. He had just a touch of a jealous heart when it came to Shelly and would often insist on sitting between her and anyone else. Shelly’s lap on a walk or at home was heaven.
Shelly was a good sport and loved being with her husband and son. We would often say, “Her and her wheelchair have been places no person and wheelchair have ever been.” Whether it’s backcountry Arches in springtime or the top of lower falls in Yellowstone, Shelly was game for any adventure. She often drew in new friends, who upon seeing her would want to join in and help and share in the joy and honor of helping her on her journey. If the truth be known, it was her helping them on their journey.
Shelly truly loved her husband and son and was an excellent wife and mother and the foundation of her family. She was an incredible example of how to handle adversity. She was patient, kind, unselfish, and accepting with all the trials placed before her. If you asked her how she was doing, no matter how difficult the situation, her answer would always be the same, “I’m fine.”
Being in a family where everyone else was guys made being with her girlfriends a special treat. She had many special friends and had a few particularly close ones. She loved being included in girlfriend lunches and spending time with them. She loved visits from all her friends and would look forward with great excitement and anticipation when she knew someone was coming.
She also loved her Mutual family and would attend regularly. Sometimes during cold and flu season, as her husband I would worry because of her autoimmune disease. But when I asked if we could go home and come next week when no one is sick she would struggle, and with great effort say, “I need this.” To her Mutual family, thank you for being such good friends!
Shelly’s strong and amazing spirit left her body and returned to her Heavenly Father’s loving arms on December 31, 2022, at the age of 57. leaving behind her grateful family and friends who were amazed, loved, and blessed by her daily. Shelly, you are truly amazing! Thank you for being so wonderful, and so good to us! We love you!
Funeral services will be held at 11:00 am Saturday, January 7, 2023, at Larkin Sunset Gardens, 1950 East Dimple Dell Road (10600 South), Sandy, UT. A visitation will be held Friday, January 6, 2023, from 6-8:00 p.m. A Viewing will be held Saturday, prior to services, from 10:00-10:45 a.m. Interment to follow at Larkin Sunset Gardens.
Saturday, January 7, 2023 at 1:00 AM – 3:00 AM
Saturday, January 7, 2023 at 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Saturday, January 7, 2023 at 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM