Shirley G. Billiar

Shirley (Smith) Billiar, 87 of South Sioux City, Nebraska, died on Friday, February 10, 2023 at her home.  Abiding by her wishes, cremation has taken place and a Celebration of Life Service will be at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 4, 2023 at Hope Lutheran Church with Reverend Michael Awe officiating.  Luncheon will follow at the church and a private family burial will be at Memorial Park Cemetery in Sioux City, Iowa that afternoon. Mohr & Becker-Hunt Funeral Home has assisted the family.   Online condolences may be offered at www.meyerbroschapels.com In lieu of flowers, memorials may be offered to the Siouxland Humane Society.

Shirley was born in Holstein, Iowa on September 7, 1935, the only daughter of Fred and Josephine (Jors) Putzier.  Her early years of education were in California and later in the Midwest, graduating in 1953 from Climbing Hill High School in Climbing Hill, Iowa. 

In 1955, Shirley was untied in marriage to George E. Smith Jr.  He died at his farm, birth-home in 1982.  In 1987, she married Dr. Robert R. Billiar in South Sioux City, Nebraska, at Hope Lutheran Church.  Shirley was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran faith.  She was a long-standing member and president of Hope’s Ladies Aid, past President of the South Sioux City Chamberettes, and the South Ridge Women’s Golf League, Craft and Culture Club, and a longtime volunteer at the Mercy Medical gift shop.  Shirley was employed by Schmoeller & Mueller Piano Company for one year and then by Sedgewick-Brennan Abstract Company for 32 years. 

Survivors include nieces Jody (Troy) Crouch and Tammy (Matt) Lambert, both of DeKalb, Texas; and step-children Dr. Timothy (Dr. Edith) Billiar, Dr. Suzanne (Brian) Billiar, and Samuel (Cindy) Billiar.

Shirley was preceded in death by her parents, both husbands, brother Butch Putzier, niece Wendy Reynolds (with her husband and one son), and stepson Jeffrey Billiar.