Shirley died peacefully at Atria Park Assisted Living in Glen Ellyn.

She attended the conservatory of music at Wheaton College where she met and married her husband Richard. Throughout her life she wrote and published more than forty choral pieces, as well as conducting numerous church choirs, giving voice lessons, and being the behind-the-scenes force of Richard's career in choral music and conducting at Glenbard West High School and several local churches.

She was preceded in death by her beloved husband Richard Whitecotton and survived by daughters Laura Wintermute, Jane Leo, and Bethany Otto, and eight grandchildren and one great-grandson.

Services will be held privately.