Obituary: Shirlee Coy

In memory of our loving mother, grandmother and friend. Shirlee J. Coy was born Dec. 3, 1934, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to Howard and Betty Helm. She attended and was graduated from Franklin High School. Later she married Jerald Fitzgibbons and they had a baby boy, Keith Fitzgibbons.
Together, they raised Siberian huskies to run in sled dog races in Iowa and Minnesota. In October 1968 they moved to Denver, Colo., where she started her first grooming business. In 1983 she moved to Rangely, Colo., and transferred her grooming business, working out of her son’s Sonlite Glass building.
It was in Rangely she met Terrel Coy in 1989 and married him in 1990. They established their home in Jensen, Utah. Together they shared in their love for horses and horse racing. Terrel died Dec. 19, 1998. She then moved to Meeker to be close to her son Keith and his family. She continued her grooming business in Meeker, working out of the garage of the house her son built for her.
Shirlee was an accomplished artist and had entered pieces in the Meeker Classic Sheepdog Trial Artwork Contest for multiple years, and won in 1991 and 1996. Her passions were her outstanding artwork, her horses and companion dogs. She had a love for any and all animals, by which many knew her. She cherished the days spent on horseback with her close friends Jeannie Smith, Lou Dean Jacobs and Valarie Dobrich, along with the time spent she spent with her four grandkids.
Recently, Shirlee began attending the Church at Meeker, where she made peace with the Lord and her faith grew.
Shirlee was preceded in death by her mother Betty Helm, husband Terrel Coy and father Howard Helm. She is survived by her son Keith Fitzgibbons of Meeker, his wife Cindy, and four grandchildren Hannah (21), Stacey (19), Benjamin (17) and Jonathan (5).