Obituary of Shirley Victoria Bast

Shirley, daughter of George and Katherine (Beier) Sieben, was born June 16, 1949 in Consort, Alberta. Shirley grew up with three sisters and two brothers. When Shirley married Peter Bast in August 1967, she moved to the Bast family farm where together they resided and raised their family of three children. Shirley remained on the farm until Peter's death in 2005 at which time she moved into town. After a short battle with her health, Shirley went on to her home in glory on December 24, 2015 at 66 years of age. Throughout all of Mom's years she took great pride in many things cooking for family, baking for friends and catering to the communities needs whether it was through the CWL, meals on wheels or just even volunteering her services and time. Her sense of dignity was never so tested nor so well demonstrated as in the final weeks and days of her life. Even with a body riddled with cancer she was not asking for the normal allotment of painkillers as she wished to maintain full control of her faculties and to preserve her lucidity and maximize her ability to interact with the family and friends showing up to visit. I struggle to imagine myself being able to meet death with even 1/10th the dignity that I observed in my mother over the past weeks and which swelled me with pride each minute that I spent with her. Mom's love for visiting with people whether young or old made her the person she was loving, funny, high energy and just all around happy. Grandma's great pride and joy were her grandchildren. Whether it was attending hockey, ball, volleyball, dance and 4H she always made time to attend even with her busy schedule; her grandkids were her passion! Mom's infectious smile and joyful laughter will always be remembered and missed dearly. Shirley is lovingly remembered by her children, Anita (Randy) Gartner, Cindy (Lorne) Paulgaard and Jason (Shawna) Bast; grandchildren, Tanya (Chris), Braden (Kaitlyn), Jaydon, Megan, Joshua, Ethan and Eboni; siblings, Emma (†Mike), Joe (Margaret), Adeline (†Melvin), Elsie (Ambrose) and Alfred; brothers and sisters in law, Loreen (Con), Clara (Bob), Delores (Donald), Bernie, Marty (Rose) and Theresa (Pius); as well as many dear friends, nieces and nephews and extended family. Shirley is predeceased by her parents, George and Katherine; parents in law, Zacchaus and Anastasia; brothers and sisters in law, Mike, Melvin and Leo (Mary). Perhaps they are not stars but rather openings in Heaven where the love of our lost ones Shine down to let us know they are happy.