Shirley Brossard Wright

Shirley Margaret Brossard Wright passed away peacefully in the afternoon of October 7, 2022. A beloved wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, aunt and friend, she lived a life of service, compassion and humor, blessing the lives of her family and friends and so many others as she served at home, at church, and in her community.

Shirley was born on May 30, 1950, in Salt Lake City Utah, to Nellie Jones Brossard and Howard Stratford Brossard. She attended and graduated from East High School in 1968. She was working as the secretary to Ballet West when she got engaged to her high school sweetheart Wayne Wright, and they were married on October 24, 1969 in the Salt Lake Temple. A week after their wedding, they moved to Germany for the first nine months of their marriage, where Wayne was serving in the US Army. Shirley served faithfully for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, of which she was a lifelong faithful member, and while in Germany, she served as the Young Women’s president at the young age of 19, worked as the financial secretary for the church in Europe and helped in the construction of the Frankfurt chapel and European Church Office Building. Eventually they moved back to Salt Lake City and then West Jordan, where they raised their six children.

Shirley’s family was her most cherished possession, and all her work was centered around providing them a loving, productive, Christ-centered home. She worked graveyard shifts as a facility maintenance worker at the Jordan River Temple, coming home early enough in the morning to take her children to school at Terra Linda Elementary, where she also worked as a reading aide. For a time, she was a neighborhood preschool teacher (even publishing a book with her sister called “The ABC’s of Preschool”), ran a child care from her home, was a Physical Facilities Rep for the church, and later in life worked at Fidelity Investments as a financial representative.

Shirley loved to serve in her church callings, which included serving as president of the Relief Society and Primary organizations. She was a very active leader in the Cub and Boy Scouts (which her boys claim was the reason they earned their Eagle Scouts). In the community, she served as PTA president and was extremely active in helping with fundraisers for her children for marching bands, dance, and other school and extra-curricular activities.

Shirley is preceded in death by her parents and three brothers (Evan, Richard, and David). She is survived by her husband Wayne Bradford Wright, her children Trina (Karl) Childs, Michael (Leah) Wright, Adam (Francine) Wright, Matthew (Annie) Wright, Cheri (Tim) Newhard, and Heather (Jeffery) Christianson, her brother Robert and sister Rosemary, and 26 grandchildren, 3 grandsons-in-law, and 1 great grandson.

Shirley understood what it meant to have faith. Even as she struggled with health in her later years, she managed to be calm and at peace, often with a pleasant smile. She loved her Heavenly Father and loved to celebrate Christ through family holiday gatherings, faithful Family Home Evenings and sharing her testimony through yearly themes and small gifts for her family that represented our Savior’s love and His gospel. She will be missed by all who knew and loved her. Her family is comforted by knowing she has returned home to her eternal family, and that they will see her again.

A viewing will be held on Thursday, October 13 from 6-8 pm at the Larkin Mortuary at 3688 W. 12600 S. in Riverton. Funeral services will be held on Friday, October 14 at 11:00 am at the Garden Park 2nd Ward, 11543 S. Keystone Drive in South Jordan, with a viewing just before at 10:00 am. Anyone wishing to pay their respects is welcome. Shirley will be interred at the Salt Lake City Cemetery.

To watch the previously held funeral services, please click the "watch Services" link above.