"In the liturgy, we are invited to participate — body, mind, and heart — and enter into a dimension inhabited by the Holy Spirit.
In order to enter into this dimension, the liturgy is woven with signs and symbols that have a performative and transformative dimension."
The obituary below, sent to me by my friend Jean overnight, touched me in a sad way.
Shirley grew up just down Selle Road. As a young girl I marveled at her beauty and talents as a rodeo queen and trick rider.
I remember her wearing a white outfit, complete with white hat while riding her jet black horse.
Lots of familiar local faces associated with horses and rodeo from the past in this photo taken my mother Virginia Tibbs.
In my mind, at the time, Shirley Carter was bigger than life.
Years later, that same queen sat in my night class at Sandpoint High School, and that was after I had taught her son Monte in a high school English class.
The night class with Shirley and five or six other students was a general English grammar and mechanics class.
Shirley, the local legend, by then a rather quiet and unassuming soul, worked for the telephone company at the time, and she still lived at her family home on Selle Road.
Even later, she called me one day to ask if I would be interested in taking a horse that needed a home. By that time, Shirley had moved to Coeur d'Alene and had become involved in horse rescue and welfare activities.
The Arabian mare named Heather belonged to the step-father of highly accomplished and nationally known Western sculptor Debbie Copenhaver Fellows. Her works include Bing Crosby on the Gonzaga campus and Sen. Barry Goldwater.
Debbie's stepfather had suddenly died and left behind his herd of Arabian horses.
The Copenhaver name was well-known in the area, as Debbie's father "Deb" was a nationally known rodeo star. Her stepfather Dean Dinneson was also well-known as a scoutmaster and businessman in Spokane.
I agreed to take Heather, then a yearling filly which had hardly been handled so she spent some time with Monty Collison at Spokane Equestrian Center before coming home.
I'm pretty sure that Shirley saw to it that all the horses found homes.
I treasured my friendship with Shirley and admired her. My thoughts go out to her family.
💔💔💔💔💔💔
Shirley Carter Slinkard Jones, age 88 of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, passed away peacefully May 26. 2026 at Dalton Senior Living in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
She was born Feb. 10, 1938, in Sandpoint, Idaho, the daughter of Lee and Irma Carter.
Shirley graduated from Sandpoint Senior High in 1956. She worked for GTE and Verizon for many years, then for Atlas in Coeur d’Alene until she retired in 1992.
Shirley has loved horses since the age of 5, when she had her first horse, who was her best friend and companion for 27 years.
She was involved in trick training horses for Roy Rogers and Dale Evans and training many other horses. She participated in rodeos, parades and 4-H.
Shirley was the first woman in chariot racing and won the World Championship in 1964. She had a passion for helping others work with their animals and was very active with Kootenai County Animal Rescue.
Shirley was preceded in death by her parents, Lee and Irma; her first husband, LeRoy Slinkard; her second husband, Paul Jones; two half-sisters, Helen and Beulah; and two half-brothers, George and Russell.
She is survived by her son, Monte (Leslie) Slinkard Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; two daughters; Tammy (Nick) Pappas of Hillsboro, Ore., and Kay Salas of Santa Paula, Calif.; four grandchildren, Shawn (Allison) Slinkard, Hannah (Logan) Lunderstadt, Michelle and Andy Salas and nine great grandchildren, along with many other family and friends who will sadly miss her.
