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Last weekend, I attended the memorial service for my longtime friend and colleague Shirley Grenoble who passed away on Oct. 22. She was 90.
The past year and a half had not been an easy time for her. In August 2024, her beloved son Mark died from injuries he sustained in an auto accident. Mark had lived in Missouri for most of his adult life, but the two of them always kept in close touch with one another. Mark also returned to Pennsylvania as often as possible to hunt deer with his mother, an event that was typically the highlight of her year. The loss of her son took a deep emotional toll on Shirley, who was also experiencing health issues herself, some of which necessitated hospital stays. Last spring, she was admitted to a nursing home and remained in a full-time care facility until her death.
Shirley began writing her outdoor column for the Mirror more than 40 years ago, and I first met her shortly thereafter. When I started writing my column for the Mirror 25 years ago, one of the questions I was asked most often was "Does Shirley Grenoble really hunt?"
My answer to that was always an instant and emphatic "Yes, she certainly does!"
Anyone who knew Shirley even remotely well was aware of her devotion and enthusiasm to the sport of hunting, especially for wild turkeys and white-tailed deer. I will always remember her telling me about the event that created a lifelong passion for hunting within her. Not long after being married, she accompanied her husband and some of his friends on a rabbit hunt with some beagles. The men set the dogs loose and let them go about their business.
Soon, one of the dogs found a bunny, and the chase was on. Shirley stood mesmerized by the shrill music of the baying beagles as they pushed their quarry in a wide circle around the hunting party. Finally, the yelping grew closer and closer until a shotgun boomed and the chase was over. But that incident filled her with wonder and excitement for hunting and the outdoors that continued to grow.
Shirley was strongly independent and didn't want to depend on others to take her hunting. As she gained experience and knowledge about her sport, she was perfectly comfortable getting up and going hunting by herself. And even when she did go out with others, she expected no special help or treatment. That sometimes stern willfulness is undoubtedly one of the reasons she was so successful at most things she was involved with. And her involvement was multi-faceted and spanned many decades.
Perhaps the greatest testament to Shirley's love for hunting concerns the fact that she was involved in a pair of dreadful hunting accidents more than 30 years ago.
While turkey hunting near Raystown Lake during the spring season, two hunters mistook her calling for a wild turkey and opened fire on her with a total of six shotgun blasts. She was badly wounded but pulled through, although carrying a few pellets that couldn't be removed for the rest of her life. Just two weeks before her accident, she had been turkey hunting in Missouri with her son.
As they were walking out of the woods after their morning hunt, another hunter mistook Mark for a turkey and shot him at close range. Shirley watched her son fall at her feet, critically wounded.
He was subsequently life-flighted to a hospital for treatment and survived. Mark never hunted turkeys again after his accident, but those tragic events didn't deter Shirley's dedication to turkey hunting. She was, as might be expected, a staunch advocate for hunting safety.
As an award-winning writer, Shirley contributed articles to dozens of regional and national outdoor publications. She was actively involved in conservation causes, most notably with the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) in the 1970s.
She was a founding member of the Pennsylvania Chapter of NWTF and served two terms as its president, the first women to hold that office. During her many years of service to the NWTF, she won numerous national and state awards.
In spite of her many accomplishments and contributions to the outdoor sports, nothing was more meaningful to Shirley than her service to her Lord and to her church. At the New Hope Baptist Church in Duncansville, she served as the organist, choir director and teacher of an adult Sunday school class along with countless other volunteer projects and activities.
During the last 10 or 15 years, Shirley often told me that teaching her Sunday school class was the greatest passion of her life. Having attended her class many times, I know that to be true. She knew her lessons well and was always meticulously prepared to deliver them.
I learned much from her.
Shirley Grenoble was a dear friend, a respected writer, fellow hunter and spiritual adviser. She was one of a kind. I shall miss her always. For anyone wishing to honor her memory, Shirley requested donations be made to the New Hope Baptist Church New Hope Baptist Church, 276 Maple Hollow Road, Duncansville, Pa. 16635.