Shirley Meenan

The music programmed originally on the station was new popular music and standards but when the glut of new labels, new artists (some with only one hit), rock and roll, the Elvis mania, etc., at least 200 records a week poured into the station.  I was doing the music, writing a weekly column called “KATI CASPER) (not with a K, I hope), making up the Top 14 hit list from our own requests, Woolworth record sales and Billboard’s lists for the week. We tried to have the daytime program a little more mild because the other stations were trying to convince merchants that only teenagers listened to KATI so they shouldn’t advertise with us.  When we programmed the station it was a mix of all types of music; rock and roll, country, standards, instrumentals, etc.

SHIRLEY LOUISE MEENAN – Obituary

August 1, 1926 to September 16, 2018

Shirley Louise Meenan, 92, of Casper, died in her sleep September 16, 2018 at the Life Care Center of Casper. She was born in Rawlins, Wyoming on August 1, 1926 to Bertha C. (Clark) and Clyde M. Byron, the youngest of three children. The Depression forced a move to Casper, where Shirley attended elementary and middle schools, graduating from NCHS in 1944. She made many lifelong friends at NCHS.

Moving to California, she worked for a year and then attended and graduated from Pomona College in 1949. She returned to Casper to make some money so that she could “get back to the beach”, but instead fell in love and married Patrick H. Meenan. She and Pat raised their four children in Casper and were married for over fifty years until his death in 2001. Shirley never remarried. She deeply loved her children and grand-children and welcomed each one of them as a unique individual.

Shirley lived a rich and interesting life. As the youngest child, she loved “grasshoppering around” free from close parental scrutiny. Even through the tough financial years of her childhood, the various moves were great adventures for her and she loved the people she met at every stage of her life. As she and Pat raised their growing family and pursued Pat’s political and business interests, Shirley was active in numerous civic and social groups in Casper. She was particularly proud of helping to establish the Counseling Center and the Self-help Center in Casper and served on their boards for many years. As those that knew her can attest, she had a keen understanding and appreciation of people. When her oldest children left for college, she went to work at the Counseling Center as a counselor and helped her clients through life’s difficult moments.

With a life-long love of music, she could remember almost every song she ever heard or played. Throughout her life, she “had a song for every occasion”. She was an avid reader, a close student of current events, a lover of the complexities of the English language, and enjoyed a multitude of friends from all walks of life. The Meenan house was always full of music, books, pets, laughter and interesting conversation and people constantly stopped by and felt welcome. She took up golf in her middle years and finally gave it up in her late eighties, because she’d “outlived her golf partners”. She traveled extensively, loved her crossword puzzles and the meetings of her book club.

In 2015, her wonderful mind was ravaged by a series of strokes. Despite her hard work and the wonderful care she received at the Wyoming Medical Center, Elkhorn Rehab Center and Life Care, her brain was too damaged and she was never able to return to her beloved home. She will be deeply missed.

Shirley was preceded in death by her parents, Clyde and Bertha Byron, her brother, Clark Byron of New York, her sister, Virginia Lathrop, of Casper, her husband Patrick, her oldest daughter Maurya of Boston and her nephew Homer Lathrop III of Chicago. She is survived by her children, Kevin P. Meenan (Deann) of Casper, Michael J. Meenan of Los Cabos, Mexico, Patricia Kelly Gustafson (Craig) of Eugene, Oregon, daughter-in-law Deb Wishner of Burlington, Massachusetts, four grandchildren, five great grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.

A funeral mass will be held on Monday, September 24, 2018 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, with burial to follow at Highland Cemetery. A visitation will be held Sunday, September 23, 2018 from 5 to 7 p.m. with a Rosary at 7 pm at the Newcomer Casper Chapel.

Memorials in her name may be made to the Casper Humane Society or to a charity of the donor’s choice.