february 6, 2026

“You are not here to survive quietly. You are here to live boldly.” ~ Unknown

snow day

The flakes were big today. It was a nice view as I washed clothes and wrote Shero’s obituary. Missy was sweet enough to wash a load of jeans and shirts for me last week, but there was more to do. The obituary was not very easy. I tried to write it three times while we were in the hospital, but I couldn’t get past the first paragraph. Maybe because I hadn’t accepted it yet. Maybe I just didn’t think it was possible. Nobody really did. No matter how much pain she was in, she was always jolly and warm; always the life of the party. You think people like her will live forever. Maybe I couldn’t finish it because I’ve written so many in the last three years. I don’t know, but I did finally finish the obituary portion of the exercise out of necessity, but the eulogy is another matter. I have some time to let my new reality sink in and really think about the essence of Shero and all she meant to people, not just me. I missed getting the obituary to the funeral home by eight minutes, so they threw together something bare, and people are already sharing it on Facebook. Here’s the actual obituary that will eventually make its way to the funeral home website.

Shirley Faye Adams Terry

January 24, 1942 – February 5, 2026

Shirley Faye Adams Terry, formerly of West Liberty, Kentucky, died February 5, 2026, in Lexington at the UK Good Samaritan Hospice Care Unit after a very brief battle with leukemia. Born at Malone, Kentucky, on January 24, 1942, she was the youngest of two daughters born to Hannah Ann Hamilton and Orville “Bodine” Adams. While still in high school, Shirley enlisted in the United States Army in 1960, earned her GED, and served at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, where she provided computer data processing for intelligence services at the White Sands Missile Range in neighboring New Mexico. Although she planned to make a career in the U.S. Army, family circumstances in Kentucky led to her honorable discharge at age 20 in 1962. 

Once more a civilian, Shirley worked for Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Louisville. There, she began dating fellow Morgan Countian, Norvin “Shorty” Terry, a U.S. Army Spec. 5 stationed at nearby Fort Knox, Kentucky. On Groundhog Day, February 2, 1963, the couple was united in marriage at the Glenn Avenue Church of God in West Liberty and soon moved to the U.S. Army Garrison in Schweinfurt, Germany, where Shorty was stationed. In late 1964, Shirley returned to West Liberty for the January 1965 birth of their only child, a daughter, Kopana Lynn Terry. Shorty mustered out that same year and returned to his growing family in Kentucky.

After a brief residency in Paris, Kentucky, the young couple settled in Morgan County, and Shirley began her career as a state social worker with the Social Insurance Office. Here, she assisted particularly with child welfare cases and various other needs of county residents. During these years, she and Shorty also devoted considerable time to the beginning of the Morgan County DAV Chapter 132. As lifetime members, the couple served in various capacities for over 50 years. They worked tirelessly to uphold the DAV spirit and ensure continued growth until they relocated to Lexington in the fall of 2019.  

The family spent four years in Tucson, Arizona, from 1975 to 1979, but returned to West Liberty, where Shorty opened his most successful business, Circle T Market. While Shorty was the face and energy of the business, Shirley worked behind the scenes to manage paperwork and accounting and to step in and cover any unmet needs in the store. As in life, so in business; the couple was a true team. 

In 1990, Shirley returned to work for the state at the Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex (EKCC), where, once more, she put her organizational skills to good use as secretary to the Deputy Warden. It was a job that gave her joy and earned her many lifelong friends. She retired in 2001. 

The values of service to country instilled in Shirley a devotion to her fellow armed services veterans, her community, and her family. She was active in Shorty and Kopana’s business, school, and extracurricular activities, the care of her mother, father, and sister Janet in later years, of course, the DAV and the many veteran events throughout the county, and she was a lifelong member of the West Liberty Church of God (formerly Glenn Avenue Church of God), founded by her mother, Hannah, and other faithful believers in the 1950s. As children, Shirley and her sister Janet often accompanied their mother to services at Spaws Creek. Later, as the church was being built, they sat on cinder blocks during services and helped the elder women cook meals to raise funds for the building. In later years, she and Shorty were devout Christians and did all they could to see the church prosper. 

Shirley’s West Liberty church family was at a loss when she and Shorty moved to Lexington, but blessings returned tenfold when she found Anchor Point Church of God after Shorty’s passing in 2022. A social butterfly to the end, Shirley made friends easily and was adored by many people throughout her life. The members of Anchor Point took her in as if she’d been family from the beginning. She shared her love of singing with both church congregations, a gift that many friends and family remarked as extraordinary. Shirley loved to sing, dance, laugh, have good, clean fun, and be in the company of the people she loved. If she loved you, she loved and defended you like no other. 

Shirley was preceded in death by her husband of 63 years Norvin “Shorty” Terry, parents, Orville “Bodine” and Hannah Hamilton Adams, sister Janet Marie Adams Vest, half-brothers Lloyd Junior and John Edward Smith, brothers-in-law Randolph, Gregory, Phillip, Ralph Paul, and James Trent Terry, Galen Ray Wilson, Roger Vest, and Ralph Keith, and sisters-in-law Linda West and Lucille Terry.

She is survived by her daughter Kopana of Lexington, sisters-in-law Linda Gail Sheets Terry of Winchester, Mabel Keith of Sebring, Florida, Barbara Schirmer and Lois Nell Wilson of Lexington, brothers-in-law Harold (Phyllis) Terry of Catlettsburg, Darrell (Judy) Terry of Flatwoods, Danny (Sherry) Terry of West Liberty, and sisters-in-law Charlene (Tony) Adkins of Lexington, Marcie Mullins Terry of Stanton, Nila Terry Crouch (John) of Mt. Sterling, and Virginia Allen Terry of Winchester, Ohio, 23 nieces and nephews, many great and great great nieces and nephews, several first cousins Kenny Williams (Ohio), B. J. Gambill and Rebecca Ann (Alabama), Janie Rhodes and Charlotte Brock (Florida). 

Although Shirley and Shorty had only one biological daughter, they shepherded many others over the years who made up for the lack of children. They include, but are not limited to, Gregory Scott Gross, Jill Lemaster, Donna McClure Steele, Bazie Dulen III, Jodi and Travis Stacy, Timmy Gross, Alisa Marshall Burnett, Betina Gardner, Hope Wilson, Charlie Conley, II, and Shirley’s extraordinary sister-friend, Martha Conley Coffee.    

Visitation will be held Saturday, February 14, 2026, from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm at Herald, Stewart, and Halsey Funeral Home in West Liberty, followed immediately by the funeral service at 1:00 pm, led by Pastor Ruford Abner of Anchor Point Church of God, Lexington. Burial with full military honors by Morgan County DAV Chapter 132 will immediately follow at South Fork Cemetery, Malone. Pallbearers are Charlie Conley, II, Mike Moore, Jimmy Whitt, Evyian Terry, Kevin Terry, and AJ Watkins. Honorary pallbearers are Michael Terry, Jeffrey Terry, Ann Smith, Tamara Martin, Richard Terry, Tina Tkach, Renee Watkins, Jessica Stigall, Mark Keith, Mike Neal, Eddie Fisher, Lanelle Fisher, Melissa Moore, Macie Moore, Bryan Terry, Lisa Terry, Brittany Perry, Jen Reynolds, Carrie Volz, Anastasia Mathis, and Eric Steven Terry. After interment, a celebration of Shirley’s life will continue with food and fellowship at West Liberty Christian Church. Everyone is welcome. In lieu of flowers, the family would be honored by donations to Bluegrass Care Navigators (Hospice of the Bluegrass).

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