On January 18, 2023, Shelby entered Heaven’s gates and received her angel’s wings. On December 28, 2022, a routine blood test resulted in being diagnosed with AML, a rapid form of leukemia. She succumbed to the disease three weeks later at the James Cancer Center in Columbus, Ohio. It was very sudden and extremely difficult for her family, but a blessing for her.
Shelby was born on March 21, 1937, in Man, West Virginia to Abner Alexander and Marcy Marie (McDonald) Browning. As an infant, her family moved to Floodwood, Ohio, in Athens County, where her mother’s family was from. She enjoyed celebrating her birthday with her daddy through the years, as his was the day before hers. God, the Church, and her family were very important to her upbringing. That everyone is a child of God, and we are all created equal. She instilled these values in her children as well.
Shelby had a beautiful voice. She sang in the church and school choirs, performing many solos and yodeling. In high school she worked part-time at the 5&10 store in Athens, Ohio, did some modeling, and babysat. She graduated from Waterloo High School in 1955. She had the opportunity to pursue a singing career, however she met and married Jim Savely. They had two girls, Debbie and Carol, and the Little Man, Jimmy. Job opportunities moved them to Columbus in the mid-1960s, then Kettering, and then Xenia.
Shelby was a loving stay-at-home mother for many years. Upon building a new home, in Xenia, she entered the work force. First at an investigative office in Dayton, and then the Credit Bureau of Xenia, as head of the collection department. In April 1974, many things changed, the Xenia tornado hit. When the Xenia Credit Bureau was sold to the Dayton Credit Bureau, she worked briefly for the office of the Xenia Gazette, before being hired as the office manager at Medical Associates of Xenia. It was a very demanding job, engaging with doctors, staff, and patients, which she loved and did well. They were extremely disappointed when she resigned.
Jim and Shelby divorced. She reconnected with Don Cooper, an associate at her first job in Dayton. They married and started a successful construction company. They purchased acreage in the Paint Creek/Hillsboro area and upon retiring, sold their home in Dayton, and moved to the farm. She loved having her children visit, but especially, when her first grandchild, Tyler, came to visit. He was the light of her life, she shared many first with him, big screen movies, traveling in the R.V., riding the tractor on the farm, playing chess, and his first flight trip to Wyoming to visit her son, Jimmy, and his wife, Carla. For many years, she mailed him a letter each week, drew pictures, and painted t-shirts which he still has many of.
Shelby went back to work part-time at State Farm Insurance office in Hillsboro, then went full-time after becoming a single woman again. She moved to Cincinnati, where she worked for a State Farm agent there, and was close to her daughter, Debbie, and her family. She loved being near her grandsons, Alex, and Adam, taking them to school, doing activities, with them, and watching them grow. She moved back to Logan in 2012 to be near Carol, Greg, and Tyler which gave them so much joy. She was happy in Logan, Jimmy and Carla had moved back also. However, she missed her daughter, Debbie and her two grandsons.
She was a loving sister “Sissy” to her siblings and was heartbroken as she outlived all thirteen of them, except for her baby brother David in Idaho, who she spoke with weekly. She was a special aunt and mom to many of her nieces, nephews, and cousin Sharon in Man, WV. She always had time to lend an ear and offered words of encouragement. She enjoyed the family reunions and reminiscing.
Those who were visitors to her home, said they felt such a sense of calm and love in her presence. The staff at the James Cancer Center commented on it as well and would debate over who would be assigned to take care of her. She called them her angels, but they believed she was one.
Shelby was a wonderful and incredible person, who faced many adversaries in her life, yet always carried herself with grace and dignity, never self-pity. She said her faith in God and love for her children is what kept her going through those times.
Shelby is survived by her children, Debra Fox, Carol (Greg) McDaniel, and Jimmy (Carla) Savely; grandchildren, Tyler (Kellye Blosser) McDaniel, Alex (Canaan) Fox, and Adam Fox; step grandson, Anthony (Tess) Downs (daughter Addie); brother, David (Jill) Browning of Idaho; sister-in-law, Kim (Jerry) Browning of Arizona; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins, all over the country.
Shelby is proceeded in death by her parents; infant brothers, Harold and Pearly; brother, Bud (Bud’s wife, Lee, who passed away while Shelby was in the hospital and were very close), twin brothers, Elbert (Doris), and Delbert (Sharma); brothers, Dean (Joyce), and Jerry; and sisters, Mary (Dick) West, Viola (Ronald) Gould, Patricia Browning, and Kathy (Rodney) Michaud.
Thank you to the Heinlein-Brown Funeral Home for their caring and kindness. Shelby was cremated and will be buried at Salem Cemetery in Athens County, Ohio, next to her parents.