Obituary of Shirley Ann Kaye

Shirley Ann Kaye May 24,1926 - Sept 30, 2019 Shirley was born in Detroit in 1926, the eldest daughter of Hugh and Elsie Devlin. She and her sister Audrey grew up on the east side of Detroit on Canton Avenue. While attending Eastern High School, Shirley enjoyed working on Belle Isle in concessions and at the Aquarium. Shirley studied for a year at the Jesuit University of Detroit. During WWII, she accepted a position in the secretarial pool at the Detroit Army Ordinance. After the war, she was working as a secretary at General Motors world headquarters when she met Leonard Kaye, the brother of Audreys best friend Toni, and she and Leonard married in 1952. They got their wish for a large family and raised six children in Dearborn Heights until moving to Farmington Hills in 1964. When Leonards job transferred him to St. Louis, Missouri in 1975, they left Michigan, with the two youngest in tow, to live there 20 years before returning to Michigan upon retirement. They built their "dream house" at the age of 70 in Rochester Hills, and it beautifully showcased Shirleys talent for interior design. Family was everything to Shirley. Her dream had always been that the entire family would live on the same block, but unfortunately five of her children ultimately left the state for California or Washington, D.C. Shirley lucked out that Maureen was always near and continued to be her personal shopper and medical advocate. Shirley focused her life around being a good wife, mother and grandmother. She took the job seriously as a fulltime mother, instilling the importance of honesty, education, and hard work in all her children. Shirley leaves behind a circle of love for and from her beloved and devoted husband of 67 years, Leonard; their six adoring children, Leslie, Brian, and David Kaye of San Francisco, CA; Maureen and Tom Wightman of Lake Orion, MI with their children Nicole and Rob Dempster, Kaitlyn and Stephanie in Columbus, OH; Jonathan Kaye and Kathryn with their sons Ethan and Wyatt of Fremont, CA; Keith Kaye and Debra Agostino of Washington, D.C.; Shirleys great-grandson Holden Dempster; and a loving group of nieces and nephews and their children. A celebration of life will be held in the future.