SHIRLEY BROUS

SANTA MARIA, Calif- Burial was held Friday, Sept. 25, at Santa Barbara Memorial Cemetery for Shirley Ruth (Stratton) Brous, who died Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020.

Survivors include her husband, Gary Brous; two daughters, Gwendolyn McCrea, Palm Springs and Sherry Scherman and husband John, Santa Maria; two sons, Gregory Brous, San Ynez and Gary Grant Brous, Las Vegas, Nevada. Her special grandchildren are: Heather McCrea of Texas, Bruce McCrea of Desert Hot Springs, William McCrea of Palm Springs, John Wesley Robb of Santa Maria, Lisa Smith of Nebraska, Timothy Robb of Arizona, Janelle Brous of Santa Barbara, Jason Brous of San Ynez, Lauren Kerr of Buellton and Christina and Calvin Brous of Las Vegas, Nevada. There are also great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Herbert and Janie Stratton; four brothers, Vernon Stratton, Merlin Stratton, Wayne Stratton and Ronald Stratton and one sister, Charlotte (Stratton) Achard.

Mrs. Brous was born in Jasper County, Mo. Her family lived in Joplin then moved to Lamar, Mo. While living in Lamar, she met and married her high school sweetheart, Gary Brous, in 1952. They made their first home in Missouri. From this union they had four children, Gwendolyn, Sherry, Greg and Grant.

In 1963, she and her family moved to Altadena, where she worked for California Institute of Technology for several years. Then they moved to Santa Barbara in 1970. She and her husband started a machine shop business, making machined parts for other major companies. She worked in the physics and geography departments at the University of California Santa Barbara for 14 years and retired in 1993.

During her retirement she learned to play Bridge and was very proud of winning tournaments. She had a passion to travel the world and some of the places she and her husband visited were Germany, China, England, Italy, Alaska and the Panama Canal. She shared her husband’ interest in horse racing and was able to go to the Kentucky Derby twice. Another interest of hers was floral design and her home was decorated with the arrangements she had made. She was a member of a gourmet cooking group and had so much fun creating recipes, cooking international foods and dining with her friends. She was a member of the Goleta Woman’s Service Club for many years.

She had a loving heart, a beautiful smile, a wonderful sense of humor and enjoyed her life as a wife, mother and grandmother. She was a friend to all that knew her. She was a hard-working, passionate figure of strength, who never waned in her support or love of her family and she soldiered on, even when times were tough. She will always be admired and loved by her family.