Shirley McGowan Thompson Floyd

Shirley McGowan Thompson Floyd, 86, of Amarillo, passed away on September 24, 2021.

Visitation will be from 1-3:00 p.m., Sunday, September 26, 2021 at Schooler Funeral Home, 4100 S. Georgia St. Funeral service will be at 10:30 a.m., Monday, September 27, 2021 at Claude United Methodist Church. Interment will follow in Claude Cemetery. Arrangements are by Schooler Funeral Home.

Shirley was born February 1, 1933 in Claude, Texas to Walter R. McGowan and Rua Louise Kirk. She graduated from Claude High School in 1953. Shirley attended Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, and Texas Tech University in Lubbock Texas, where she studied music and became an avid pianist and was a member of Zeta Tau Alpha sorority. After college Shirley moved to Amarillo, Texas. Shirley met Roy Thompson in high school, and they were married in 1956. After travelling with the US Marine Corps to Camp Pendleton, Twenty-Nine Palms, California, and Palm Springs, California, Shirley and Roy moved to Reno, Nevada.  In 1960 they returned to Amarillo, and in 1967 they moved the family to Fritch, Texas where Shirley worked for the Sanford-Fritch ISD Tax Office. In the Fall of 1979, following the death of her husband Roy, Shirley moved back to Amarillo where she worked for Diamond Shamrock, Barbee Exploration, and the Texas Natural Resource Center for Plutonium. During this time, she met and married Jerry Q. Floyd of Amarillo. After retiring, Jerry and Shirley moved back to the family farmhouse in Claude where she grew up. While in Claude she worked at the Jim Schooler funeral home.

Shirley was very involved in the Claude community and took an active role in the development of the Armstrong County Museum. She was also actively involved in the Claude Methodist Church.

Shirley loved animals and had a number of beloved pets over the years. She was particularly fond of Pugs and provided a loving home to several pugs throughout her life.  Shirley’s love of the Texas Panhandle was evident to everyone that knew her, especially her family. Every year, she would gather her children and grandchildren together and drive to the rim of the Palo Dura Canyon to watch the sun come up and enjoy a sunrise breakfast picnic. Shirley enjoyed playing the piano, painting, snow skiing, camping, attending the Amarillo symphony, and spending time with her family. She and her sister Ruella had a special relationship and always kept everyone around them smiling and laughing.

Shirley was preceded in death by her parents, Walter and Rua McGowan, her first husband Roy Thompson, her second husband, Jerry Floyd, and her sister Ruella McGowan Franklin.

She is survived by: son Mike Thompson of Cottonwood, Arizona; daughter Tracy DeShazo and her husband Ronnie DeShazo of Dumas, Texas; son Brad Thompson and his wife Julie Thompson of Leander, Texas; six grandchildren – Joshua Thompson, Jacob Thompson, Zachary Thompson, Jack Edward Thompson, Riley DeShazo, and Taylor DeShazo; and four great-grandchildren – Canon DeShazo, Lennox DeShazo, Nathan Thompson, and Elliot Thompson.

The family suggests memorials be made to the First United Methodist Church of Claude or to the Armstrong County Museum.