KOFOOT-GLEASON, Shirley Ann

KOFOOT, GLEASON, ANGELL, FRYE, CACIA, HALL, HAYES, PETERSEN

Posted By: Sharon R Becker (email)
Date: 3/29/2016 at 00:56:10

Obituary ~ Shirley Ann Koffot-Gleason
May 09, 1935 ~ November 24, 2008

The Globe Gazette
Mason City, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa

Shirley Ann Kofoot-Gleason, 73, of Walnut Creek, Calif., died Nov. 24, 2008, at John Muir Memorial Hospital in Walnut Creek, Calif., surrounded by her best friend, Carmen Sierra, and her daughter, Ann Cacia.

She died from complications of dialysis with the words “I love you” on her lips; a fitting departure from a life lived to her fullest by loving her daughter, son-in-law, her grandchildren, by doing crafts and quilting with her friends, singing in the choir, shopping for her grandchildren and loving the Lord. She was always on the go, surrounded by friends and family.

Because of her deep appreciation of her borrowed time after seven major surgeries, relationships took on a greater meaning, a legacy she has passed to her family.

Shirley Kofoot was born May 9, 1935, in Mason City, Iowa, the daughter of the late Mina and Hans Kofoot of Fourth Street Northeast. Hans Kofoot was a master mechanic and Mina was a homemaker.

Shirley lost her father to cancer when she was only 15. She remembered her soft-spoken, warm-hearted father often. He had a gentleness and comfort to him that must have been handed down to Shirley as she always had a gentle and soothing presence.

Shirley was the fifth of six siblings. Her siblings are Marjorie Hall of Garner, the late Merle Kofoot of Mason City, the late Marcile Angell of Mason City, the late Mary Frye of Scottsdale, Ariz., and Jim Kofoot of Mason City.

On Sept. 24, 1960, Shirley married John Gleason of Mason City, who now lives in St. Charles, Iowa.

Shirley Kofoot-Gleason started work at Northwestern Bell as an operator almost immediately after graduating from Holy Family High School in 1953 and remained employed at the phone company until she retired some 36 years later from AT&T in Pleasanton, Calif.

Shirley married John Gleason after he moved to California in 1959 and got a job and an apartment for them to live in after their vows at Mason City’s Holy Family Catholic Church.

Shirley Kofoot was a stunning beauty who had an operatic voice which was much appreciated by the Holy Family Drama and Choir groups during her high school years. She loved to sing and continued doing so in the local Catholic Church (St. John Vianney, Walnut Creek, Calif.) choir from the 1980s until she passed away.

Shirley Kofoot was the 1953 Miss Mason City and that became her best-kept secret outside Mason City for the rest of her life. But those who loved her knew how truly beautiful she was inside and out and that the one year she spent as queen really suited her.

Shirley Kofoot-Gleason volunteered in many non-profit organizations. She loaned her leadership and management skills volunteering at the Soroptomist Club in Danville, Calif., during the 1960s and 1970s. She always sat on one board or another all of her adult life, including The Phoenix Adult Care and Rehabilitation Center in Pleasant Hill, Calif., the Parish Board at St. John Vianney in Walnut Creek and various other non-profit boards at the request of friends who appreciated her sharp mind for business and extensive knowledge of California labor law.

Mrs. Gleason was a member of California State Telephone Employees Association, and Telephone Pioneers of America.

She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Ann and Joel Cacia, of Pleasanton, Calif.; their two daughters, Julieann (11) and Molly Rose Cacia (8); beloved nieces and nephews who have stepped in after Shirley’s death in great support to Shirley’s only child, Ann Cacia, such as Georgeann K. Hall of Omaha, Neb., Joyce and Cris Hayes of Smithville, Mo., and their two children Ethan and Camryn; Julie and Dan Petersen of Elizabeth, Colo.; their daughter Samantha; Mrs. Marjorie Hall of Garner; Ted and Sue Hall of Forest City; and Mike Hall of Omaha, Neb.

A memorial service of interment will be held at 4 p.m. Friday, June 26, 2009, at the Sacred Heart Cemetery which is on old Highway 65 south of Rockwell. A reception will follow.

Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, March of 2016