Shirley Minges

Shirley Hatton Minges born October 21, 1934 passed away on June 10, 2020 at Gothenburg Health in Gothenburg, NE.     Shirley was the daughter of Simpson Hatton and  Helen Ida Olmstead.   Shirley’s siblings were Gary Olmstead and Susan Bowers.

Shirley was married to Billy Jack Minges on February 27, 1955.  Shirley was the mother of five, Shawn (Jim) Poorman of Wharton, Texas, Mark (Susan) Minges  of Ave Maria, FL, Vicki (Terry) Fritz of Farnam, Nebraska,, Brett (Sandy) Minges of Frisco, Tx, and Cameron (Carol) Minges of Lake Saint Louis, MO. She was the grandmother of six Jeremy Fritz, Joshua Fritz, Justin (Lissette) Minges, Kevin Minges, Ryan Minges, and Summer Minges, and great grandmother of six, Kalliope Minges, Oliver Minges, Milo Minges, Gideon Minges, Asher Minges, and Maria Minges.

She was preceded in death her parents, husband Billy J. Minges, daughter Shawn Poorman, son-in-law Terry W. Fritz, grandson Jeremy W. Fritz, great grandchildren Gideon Minges, Asher Minges, and Maria Minges.

Shirley Minges started in the fluid analysis business in the early 60’s with Analyst Services, Inc in Oakland, CA as a bookkeeper.   After rising through their organization, Shirley was asked to take over their new Stafford (Houston), TX laboratory to build/rebuild their business in 1973.  Shirley was successful in building that facility which is still in operation today, some 47 years later under Bureaus Veritas.  This began a new chapter in Shirley’s career as one of the first women in this industry and led to her joining another start-up called Lubricon in 1978,  eventually becoming an equity owner and ultimately selling to Cummins, Inc. in 1988.  Shirley stayed with Lubricon until it was sold to another company in 1998 as their Vice President-Sales.  From there, Shirley consulted with another start-up, POLARIS Laboratories founded by her son, Mark Minges and 4 ex-Lubricon employees to lead them in their sales efforts.  Shirley stepped away from the fluid analysis business in the early 2000’s after a nearly 40 year career.

Shirley was considered an expert in the business, was trusted and sought after as a speaker with industry trade associations, such as the American Gas Association, STLE, Truck Maintenance Council, and various other associations.  As a pioneer in the business and one of the first women in the industry, Shirley paved the way for future women to be considered a viable, successful contributor to an industry that thrives today helping companies improve reliability and saving billions of dollars in operational and maintenance costs.

Shirley was also a published author of two science fiction books.  In her retirement, she saw a need to provide children access to books after the closing of the Farnam school.  She received her librarian certification and spent ten years as librarian in Farnam, Nebraska.  Shirley was instrumental in obtaining public funds in rebuilding Farnam’s public library which is still in operation today.   She was able to obtain many books and videos from libraries across the country as well as from private collections.   She categorized and re-organized the entire library when the new library was re-located.  She was also an advocate for teaching children and adults to read.   Being a librarian was one of Shirley’s proudest accomplishments.

Shirley’s interests included reading, writing, and cooking.   Her favorite food was pasta.   She loved to play her favorite card game pinnacle.  Her favorite singer was Judy Garland and her favorite songs were “It a Wonderful Life” and “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”.

Shirley adored her dog Mickey.  In her later years, she never went anywhere without Mickey being by her side.

A private service will be held.  Donations can be made to the Farnam Public Library located in Farnam, Nebraska.

To sign the online guest book, go to www.blasestrauser.com.