Shirley Bragg Donnelly

Shirley Bragg Donnelly, 96, passed away peacefully at her home in Beaumont, Texas on Saturday, September 17, 2022. She was born on March 2, 1926, in Decatur, Alabama to Mabel Pride and Dr. John Coleman Bragg. She attended Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia. In 1945, Shirley met Lt. Robert J. Donnelly at a dance in Decatur. After the war, they married and moved to Beaumont, Texas where they started their family and shared 57 years of dancing together.

Shirley was a charter member of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church and found such joy and purpose in service. Never one to shy away from hard work, she was always first to volunteer no matter the task and was a vital member of her congregation as well as a valued volunteer at Christus Hospital St. Elizabeth. Shirley truly loved all creatures great and small. She loved being outdoors tending her gardens and giving back to the earth by composting. Gardening was a passion she enjoyed sharing with her daughters and granddaughters, who always kept her home full of fresh flowers and produce from their gardens.

She was a proud member of the Beaumont Junior League, the Colonial Dames of America, and the Magnolia Garden Club where her green thumb was an inspiration to all. She was a voracious reader and regular patron of the Beaumont Public Library. To look at Shirley you might not think she’d have a competitive streak, but ever a champion for her children and grandchildren she never missed an Alabama or Ole Miss football game and took no prisoners while playing Bridge with friends.

Among her chief pleasures were trips to the beach with her family, solving the crossword puzzle and jumble every morning, watching “her show” every afternoon at 1pm, Blue Bell ice cream after dinner, and simply sitting and visiting over coffee. She loved being up to date on everyone’s lives and was hungry for knowledge, news, and of course the occasional piece of gossip. She was the epitome of southern charm and warmth, greeting everyone she met, friends and strangers alike, with her quintessentially southern “Hi, Darlin’”, always adding a few extra syllables with her infectious accent. She touched the lives of everyone she met with her gracious manner, strength of character, and above all her sparkling wit and profound wisdom. No one could deliver a one-liner quite like Shirley Donnelly.

But Shirley’s greatest pleasure was being the Matriarch of her large and loving family including her daughters, Pride Parr and her husband, Richard, of Beaumont; Leslie Wilson and her husband, Bill, of Beaumont; and Mary Haskell and her husband, Sam, of Oxford, Mississippi; grandchildren, Shirley Pride Parr of Dallas, Texas; Leigh Malleus and her husband Shawn, of Nashville, Tennessee; Lane and Rachel Wilson of Beaumont; Will Wilson of Spring, Texas; Sam Haskell IV and his wife Mei, of Los Angeles, California; Mary Lane Haskell, of Los Angeles, California; and great-grandchildren Morgan and Ben Malleus, and Sam V, James, and William Haskell. As she ascends to the Kingdom of Heaven, she is eagerly awaited by her beloved husband Bob and son Bob III.

The family would like to thank Linda Patterson, Albina Leiva, and Patricia Nikel for their compassionate care and support.

Memorial contributions for Mrs. Donnelly may be made to Presbyterian Home for Children, P.O. Drawer 577, Talladega, Alabama 35161, or a charity of one’s choice.

A Celebration of Life will begin at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, September 24, 2022, at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 1350 23rd St., Beaumont, under the direction of Broussard’s, 2000 McFaddin Avenue, Beaumont. A reception for Mrs. Donnelly’s family and friends will follow in the Fellowship Hall. She will be interred with her husband and son in her ancestral plot located in Decatur, Alabama at a later date.