Irene Long Shurden

IRENE LONG SHURDEN, age 77, of Jefferson City, TN, died on November 28, 2016 after a lengthy struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. Her daughter and husband were present at her bedside when she passed. She was born on October 8, 1939 in Lexington, Mississippi, and moved early in her childhood to Greenville, Mississippi. She graduated from Greenville High School in 1957 with honors, having been inducted into the National Honor Society, and receiving several awards from her participation on the Debate and Forensics team. Irene was one of two students, chosen by the faculty and her fellow students, to speak at the graduation ceremony. She graduated with distinction from Mississippi College with a B.A. (1961) and a M.A. (1963) in American History. From 1963 through 1979 she taught in the public school systems in Louisiana, Kentucky, and Mississippi and on the faculty of Mississippi College, as her husband moved about doing his graduate work. In addition to her academic work Irene was a community activist, coordinating various conferences, including the Governor’s conference and the conference on the problems of the aged in 1976, and the Quality of Life Conference in 1977. She was active in the League of Women voters and wrote a historical pageant entitled Black and White Baptists in Mississippi. The pageant was produced in various churches during the bicentennial. She also wrote widely for the Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. While a member of Northside Baptist Church in Clinton, MS, Irene initiated the process and obtained a favorable vote for the right of women to become deacons in that church. In 1979 she moved with her family to Jefferson City, TN, became a prominent licensed realtor with Century 21 and later became the sales manager of the local office. During that time she also continued her participation in the League of Women Voters and served on the Jefferson City Planning Commission. She was an active member of First Baptist Church in Jefferson City where she taught various Sunday School classes and served on numerous church committees until health problems required that she give them up. With family and special friends she traveled extensively within the United States and throughout various foreign countries. In 1988 she suffered a stroke that left her with expessive aphasis curtailing her community activities and ultimately requiring her retirement from real estate. In the years following her stroke she devoted herself to visitation of the sick, playing the piano, painting, and drawing. The onset of dementia cut severely into those activities that she loved. Irene was preceded in death by her father, Lee Long; her mother, Frances Long Mckee; her stepfather, John E. Mckee, Sr.; and her still born son, Robert M. Shurden, Jr. She is survived by her husband of 58 years, Robert M. Shurden; her daughter, Sandra Renee Rowcliffe (Gary); four grandchildren (Eliza, Claire, Caroline, and Garret Rowcliffe); her brother, John E. Mckee, Jr. (Cecelia); brother-in-law, Walter B. Shurden (Kay); and sister-in-law, Edna Langley (George); numerous nieces and nephews, and countless personal friends. A service celebrating her life will be held at the First Baptist Church in Jefferson City on Sunday, December 11, 2016. Family will receive friends from 2 o’clock to 4 o’clock with the service following at 4 o’clock. Interment will be a private family service. In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting that donations be given in Irene’s memory to the Alzheimer’s Association or the Pat Summit Foundation.