{"id":32399,"date":"2026-01-08T15:11:04","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T22:11:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/?post_type=case&#038;p=32399"},"modified":"2026-01-09T15:21:39","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T22:21:39","slug":"shirley-r-rice-age-89-of-helena","status":"publish","type":"case","link":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/obituaries\/shirley-r-rice-age-89-of-helena\/","title":{"rendered":"Shirley R. Rice, age 89 of Helena"},"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","class_list":{"0":"post-32399","1":"case","2":"type-case","3":"status-publish","5":"entry","6":"has-post-thumbnail"},"acf":[],"fields":{"first_name":"Shirley","middle_name":"Romaine","last_name":"Rice","date_born":"11\/02\/1936","date_died":"01\/07\/2026","age":"80","city":"Helena","state":"Montana","full_obituary_text":"<div style=\"padding:56.25% 0 0 0;position:relative;\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/event\/5639094\/embed\/interaction\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; encrypted-media; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>On January 7, 2026, Shirley Rice, of Helena, Montana, beloved sister, wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother, died from complications related to her long battle with Parkinson\u2019s Disease.\u00a0 She was 89.<\/p>\n<p>Shirley was born in November 1936, to Foster Murphy and Hazel Reed Murphy, in Duncannon, Pennsylvania, in the beautiful Appalachian Mountains of Perry County, which hosts a section of the Appalachian Trail.\u00a0 The youngest of five children, Shirley was raised in an idyllic rural setting.\u00a0 Her parents were in the ministry, and she learned to play piano, organ and accordion at an early age, playing for church services while still in junior high school, and for musical performances given by her and her sister, Janet.\u00a0 The \u201cMurphy Sisters\u201d played and sang at many services, rallies and church conventions across the region.\u00a0 Shirley was part of the first class to graduate from Green Park Union High School in Perry County in 1955.\u00a0 She was the first girl in her class to \u201cget her diamond\u201d during her senior year with her engagement to James Arthur Rice, a dashing U.S. Airman known primarily as \u201cJim\u201d but to his family as \u201cArt.\u201d\u00a0 They were married on July 30, 1955, in Landisburg, Pennsylvania, and were blessed with a wonderful life together, celebrating their 70<sup>th<\/sup> wedding anniversary in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Jim\u2019s military career took the couple on a tour of most of the country and beyond, including being stationed at Ramore Air Force Base in Ontario, Canada, where son Jim Jr. was born; to Cape Cod, New Jersey, the Florida Coast, the Deep South, the Rocky Mountain West, the Lakes of Minnesota, where son Doug arrived and, finally, to the eastern plains of Montana, where they were stationed at Glasgow and where Jim Sr. decided to retire from the Air Force, loving the open beauty of Montana and wanting to live here rather than any of the other many places they had seen.\u00a0 Twice, Jim Sr. was sent on overseas military assignments lasting a year, and in his absence Shirley managed all home and family responsibilities alone.\u00a0 In those years, the Christmas song, \u201cI\u2019ll Be Home for Christmas,\u201d brought her to tears.\u00a0 Shirley pursued her own vocational career, working as a telephone operator for the \u201cMa Bell\u201d companies, becoming a manager of operator services, and finishing her career with U.S. West, supervising and tracking the deployment of company equipment in Montana. \u00a0\u00a0Shirley\u2019s company transfer from Glasgow brought the family to Helena in 1978, and she retired from U.S. West in 1994.\u00a0 Shirley and Jim spent their retirement years traveling the country in their RV and touring places around the world, in addition to chasing a growing brood of grandchildren and great grandchildren.<\/p>\n<p>Shirley was a whirlwind of energy and enthusiasm.\u00a0 In operator services, she worked daily split shifts of 9-1 and 6-10 for much of her career, seeing her sons off to school in the morning before going to work, coming home after her first shift to clean, launder, iron, mend, bake, shop, prepare dinner for her family, and greet her sons after school, and then returning to work in the evening for her second shift of the day, arriving home to see that her sons were tucked into bed.\u00a0 She camped, fished, and hunted, bagging many large game animals and winning numerous large trophies for marksmanship in formal firearm shooting competitions.\u00a0 Loving music, Shirley was a lifelong pianist and accompanist who played for church, choirs, weddings, funerals, and special performances, playing either by note or by ear.\u00a0 One guest speaker exclaimed, \u201cThat Shirley Rice can play ANYTHING!\u201d\u00a0 She was a dedicated church volunteer, organizing events, directing choirs, administering Sunday School, leading youth groups, and teaching classes.\u00a0 Many weekend evenings found her house filled with local teenagers looking both for a friendly place to hang out and eat, and to be gently yet uncompromisingly challenged to better themselves by someone who was not their parent.\u00a0 Somehow Shirley also found time to write published book reviews in exchange for receiving a copy of the reviewed book, and in doing so, accumulated an extensive personal library.\u00a0 She could recite poetry at length, and despite being significantly physically compromised by then, regaled the family from her wheelchair with an animated recitation of \u201cA Visit by St. Nicholas\u201d on Christmas Day 2025.\u00a0 She was a friend, counselor and mentor to many people, especially to many young women who sought her out for relationship, career, parenting and spiritual advice.\u00a0 She enjoyed preparing delicious holiday and weekly Sunday meals for her multi-generational family, and decorating her house for each turn of season, especially Christmas.\u00a0 A fall from a chair while hanging Christmas decorations in the early 2000s led to a broken foot and a diagnosis of Parkinson\u2019s Disease, which she viewed as simply another challenge to overcome, even though she was repeatedly told the disease was incurable.\u00a0 Incurable or not, she fought back against it with her typical determination and remarkably survived another twenty years.<\/p>\n<p>Her life was an expression of her faith, the most important quality about her.\u00a0 She loved others with the love she had received from Christ, and lived life with the joy of His Spirit.\u00a0 She spent much time in Bible study and in praying for others.\u00a0 She had no patience for foolishness and spoke frankly, believing that loving someone did not require putting up with their self-centeredness or bad attitudes.\u00a0 She challenged people to work hard, expected one\u2019s best effort, and accepted no excuses for a job half-done or done poorly.\u00a0 \u201cWhatever your hand findeth to do,\u201d she quoted from scripture, \u201cdo it with all your might.\u201d\u00a0 She looked forward to the adventure that waited in heaven by God\u2019s grace, and in her Bible classes inspired people to run the race for an audience of One and to finish strong, which she illustrated by her own life.<\/p>\n<p>Shirley was preceded in death by her parents; her brothers, Foster Murphy, Jr., and William Murphy, and sister, Wilma Murphy Baum; and her great granddaughter, Lottie Coate.\u00a0 She is survived by her sister, Janet (Wayne) Murphy Howell of Camp Hill, Pennsylvania; her husband, Jim Sr., of Helena; sons Jim Jr (Norine) of Helena, and Doug of Kansas City, Missouri; grandchildren, Cassie (Lance) Rice Wetzel, Helena, Katie (Josh) Rice-Ahmann, Helena, Kari (Erik) Coate, Helena, and Melissa Naveda, of Wesley Chapel, Florida; great grandchildren, Kylee, Tevin, Titus, and Teidrik Wetzel, Helena; Jacky and Eden Guthrie, and Lilli Ahmann, Helena; Cormac, James Noel, Della, and Scout Shirley Coate, Helena; and Chanel, Mariah, Sophia and Jordan, Wesley Chapel; a large extended family, and many friends.<\/p>\n<p>Funeral service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, January 13, 2026 at Anderson Stevenson Wilke and Retz Funeral Home, 3750 N. Montana Ave. A reception will follow the service in the social hall of the funeral home.\u00a0 Burial will take place at Forestvale Cemetery following the reception.<\/p>\n","photo":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Shirley-Rice-scaled.jpg","youtube_video_url":"","service_status":"public","event_title1":"Funeral Service","event_date1":"2026-01-13","start_time1":"11:00 a.m.","end_time1":"","location1":"Anderson Stevenson Wilke and Retz Funeral Home","address1":"3750 N. 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