Shirley Strickland, 79, of Jacksonville, Florida, went to be with the Lord on August 2, 2020.  She was born to Willie Strickland and Monteen Altman, in Jacksonville, Florida, April 3, 1941.

Shirley lived most of her adult life at Pine Castle & Taylor Care Center. When she was staying there she loved going home to be with family and having cook outs.
Shirley had a best friend named Janet, for many years they shared many adventurers together.

Shirley loved to go to the St. Augustine Airport to have lunch at the Fly by Café, which overlooked the runway, watching the small planes coming and going. One day she saw the sightseeing helicopter taking off and decided that was something she would like to do. For several years after that she asked for a helicopter ride for her birthday.

She sat in the front (there were only 3 seats plus the pilot) and listened to the chatter on the headphones. Another time we took a sample ride on a small plane from Craig Field and she enjoyed looking down at the beach.

We had been on a train ride to Winter Park where we spent the night and came back the next day. She enjoyed that very much and I thought she might like to fly in a commercial airplane. We went to the Jax airport and flew to Ft. Lauderdale. They took her walker at the door and unfortunately failed to put it on the plane. So we spent a couple of hours in the Ft. Lauderdale airport and came back the same day. Clouds blocked our view both ways and Shirley decided she would much rather take a train than a plane.

Shirley loved being on boats whether it was the water taxi on the St. Johns River going across the river for lunch at the Landing or the Sunday luncheon cruise on the Jacksonville Princess. She enjoyed the sightseeing boat in the St. Augustine harbor where my nephew took pictures of her and the dolphins. Dolphins were another favorite of Shirley's. At Marineland she fed and petted the dolphins. At the Jacksonville Zoo she fed the sting rays but she much preferred watching the monkeys and riding on the train. Once we took the "behind-the-scenes" experience at the Zoo where the young zookeeper allowed Shirley to stroke a lion through a chain link fence. When the lion growled, I thought that was enough!

Shirley had common sense about taking risks. After we took a sightseeing boat at the Okefenokee Swamp, we saw some alligators resting on the bank by the water. I tried to get a picture of Shirley with the alligators in the background. I asked her several times to move a little closer for a better picture. Finally, Shirley said "Janet!" and looked at me as if I were nuts. I took the picture quickly and we left.

Spending time with Shirley enabled me to do a lot of things I enjoyed by would never have done on my own. She was a great person to be with because of her outgoing personality and enjoyment of every experience. She made friends everywhere whether it was a waiter or people near us on a sightseeing boat. Many times at the Alhambra theater people she had known from church or Pine Castle would recognize her and come up to say hello.

We will all miss her, but we were blessed to have known her.

Shirley is predeceased by her parents; niece, Sheri Clifton Smith; nephew, David A Clifton; brother-in-law, Ben Carroll.She leaves cherished memories of her sisters, Jean Carroll and Sandra Blayney (Ron); brother, Kenny (Peggy); 3 nephews; 1 niece and many friends.

Graveside services will be held Friday, August 7, 2020 at 9 am, in the Arlington Park Cemetery 6921 Lone Star Rd, Jacksonville, Fl 32211 with Pastor Terry Gore officiating.