Mae Irene Shanahan

Mae Irene Shanahan died Saturday, Oct. 15, 2011, at the Powell Valley  
Care Center. She was 91.
May was born Oct. 31, 1919 at Karval, Colo., to Ira Walker and Ebba  
Marie Collins. She graduated high school from Mount Saint Gertrude in  
Boulder, Colo., and attended cosmetology school in North Platte, Neb.  
She came to Powell with her husband after World War II and was a  
bookkeeper for Shanahan Contracting and attended Northwest College. Mae was a violinist for St. Barbara's Church as well as a member of  
the choir. She also was a precinct judge, president of the American  
Legion Auxiliary and a Brownie leader.
She opened LaFern Beauty Salon in 1965 and continued to work until her  
70s. She then worked for the senior center. Mae enjoyed bridge,  
pinochle, playing cribbage with her grandsons and working in her garden. She is survived by four children: Berna Mae (George) Nicholas of  
California; Byron B. (Connie) Shanahan of Nebraska; Margaret (Mike)  
McKee of Wyoming and Sean (Jennifer) Shanahan of Colorado; 15  
grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren.
Funeral Mass services will be held Thursday, Oct. 20 at 10:30 a.m., at  
St. Barbara's Catholic Church, 115 E. Third St. in Powell. Vigil services will be Wednesday beginning at 7 p.m. Burial will be in the Crown Hill Cemetery. Thompson Funeral Home has assisted the family with arrangements and  
online condolences may be sent to the family at www.thompsonfuneral.net.