Through watching movies and imitating tap dancers, Shirley Angelina Simpson, born March 16, 1931 at 1201 Calhoun in Chillicothe, charmed audiences around the square, at churches, schools, and taverns at the age of four to help support her family during the years of the Great Depression.
Shorly after 1936, she had a burst appendix. This was before antibiotics and it went into peritonitis. Her father called a “death watch” of her aunts. He mom and grandma used hot turpentine towels on her abdomen to drain off the poison. After that she had several bouts with pneumonia.
Shirley’s dream was to become a teacher, however with the times and financial condition of her family, she left home at the age of 14 along with her grandmother, Mata Davis, to earn her first paycheck at KMBC in Kansas City. “I missed my folks, my brother (Ronnie) and my baby sister (Mary Lou).
“I went to work on the Brush Creek Follies as Sue,” said Shirley. Where she became the new owner of the Little Martin guitar, which she bought from KMBC. “I had a little deducted from each of my checks until it was paid off.”
Shirley stated that Millie and Sue were originally sisters, but Sue wanted to stay home so they hired her to become Sue. “We sang and did personal appearances all over the country. When I left Millie (Lawana Wells), I went to Springfield, Mo., to work with Eddy Arnold and then the Ozark Jubilee with Red Foley.”
At the age of 15, Shirley was married for the first time. Four years later her dad’s attorney, Mr. Bob Frith, got her a divorce. She was 19 and single again.
At the age of 20, 1500 miles back to Chillicothe from Texas seemed like a long road. She came back to her hometown to sort things out and to put her life back on track.
At the age of 21, she changed her name to Shirley Caddell............
See today's edition of the Constitution-Tribune for the full article.
