Shirley Wang

Shirley Wang, age 90, died on May 23, 2026, in the comfort of her home surrounded by family. 

Visitation will begin at 2:30PM on Saturday May 30th, 2026, at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses at 3650 Asbury Rd. Dubuque. Service will follow at 3:30. 

Shirley was an only child, born in Dubuque, Iowa to Louis and Lyda Cox. They had a farm on Cox Springs Road that she loved to visit frequently. Later her dad built a home on Asbury Road where she grew up.  Shirley graduated from Dubuque Senior High School and shortly after graduation married Ronald Perry Kirch.  Together they raised six children: 

Rhonda (Dave) Neuses -Temple, TX,

Tonia (Ron) Greenawalt -Las Vegas, NV, 

Tony (Susan) Kirch – Haslet, TX,

Randy (Suzanne) Kirch – Evansville, WI, 

Suzanne Pike – Dubuque, IA, 

and Perry (Angela) Kirch – Garner, NC. 

She has 13 grandchildren and 8 great grandchildren.  

Shirley was baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses in February 1968. She loved helping others to learn about her God Jehovah and shared with them the reasons for her hope and faith in the Bible. Shirley began traveling all over the world after her late husband passed. She would go with her friends… old and new. She loved taking group trips, meeting new friends and embracing new cultures. As one of Jehovah’s Witnesses she had friends everywhere she went and kept in touch with many afterwards. She was an awesome videographer and photographer, always capturing her adventures and milestones of so many friends and family members. She loved playing cards, Dominos, reading, and doing creative embroidery. She was a talented seamstress, a cake decorator, and an exceptional pianist. She once visited the former home of Chopin, which was one of her favorite composers. 

Anyone that knew her would agree she was always full of joy and always smiling. She maintained such a positive spirit no matter what happened in life. Her motto was “You can’t change it, so just be happy.” She was hard-working, self-sacrificing and always making space and time for people she loved. 

She learned to speak Mandarin Chinese in her 60’s and loved teaching the Bible to Chinese speakers as well. In December 2000, she married Tie Jun Wang. He brought one son into our family,, Maio Wang from Plano, Texas. They continued traveling the world together and shared a love for music. 

We promised that we would take care of her to the end, and we are so privileged that we were able to do that with the help of Hospice of Dubuque. A special thanks to the Hospice Staff and to all of our friends that provided prayers, visits, loving hugs, meals, texts, and so much more during these past few weeks. 

Condolences for the family can be left at tristatecremationcenter.com