Shirley Helen Gish, Ph.D., Morehead State University retired professor, was born December 17, 1931, in St. Paul, Minnesota, and passed from this earth on Thursday, June 27, 2013. Dr. Gish is survived by two sons and two grandchildren: Timothy Donald Haskin and daughter Melissa Remy Haskin of Tucson, Arizona, and Josh Kenneth Haskin and son Jonah Timothy Haskin of Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey. After graduating from Johnson High School in St. Paul, Dr. Gish attended the St. Paul Gallery and School of Art on a scholarship. She then entered the Art Department of the University of Minnesota. While there, she had the opportunity to go with the American Field Service plane to Paris. Without means, she went to Paris planning to work. In addition to working as a governess in a French family, she also attended the Academie Julian. Shirley then traveled as a student to Belgium, Holland, Spain and North Africa, through Italy and to Cologne, Germany, where she also worked as a governess until the fall of 1954. Upon returning to the United States, Shirley worked in New York City for New York University and briefly for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. After three years, she returned to St. Paul and returned to the University of Minnesota and completed the B.A. degree in Art History and German. Immediately after graduation, she was hired by H. Harvard Arnason to work at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. She then married Minnesota sculptor Donald Haskin and they opened the first artist Bronze foundry in Mendota, Minnesota. Mr. Haskin was hired by the University of California at Berkeley. From 1960 to 1966 they and their two sons experienced the sixties in the lively art scene of Berkeley. Haskin was then hired by the University of Arizona in Tucson to found a sculpture department and build a foundry. Shirley worked there at first teaching art for the Schweitzer School for Gifted Children and then worked managing an International Print Gallery. After her divorce from Haskin, Shirley worked for the University of Arizona Library, both in the Art Library and General Reference Desk. At the same time, she entered the master's program in Art History and Library Science. Just before completing the master's degree, she was hired by Phoenix Art Museum to head their research library. She also lectured there. After completing the master's program, she worked for a consulting company and then returned to Tucson to enter the doctoral program at the University of Arizona and teach basic speech. Shirley completed the Ph.D. with a specialty in oral interpretation of literature in 1987. After teaching in Pima College, she took a position as Associate Professor at Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia, Kentucky. After two years at this college, she accepted a position as Associate Professor at Morehead State University. She retired from Morehead State in 1998 as Professor Emeritus. Dr. Gish received numerous awards including the Outstanding Creative Achievement Award from the University of Arizona and the Distinguished Creative Achievement Award from Morehead State University. She authored numerous plays and performed in Arizona, New Mexico and Kentucky. Dr. Gish wrote and performed 'Me -n Susie,' a one-person show based on the life of Dr. Claire Louise Caudill, a revered Morehead doctor, and her nurse, Susie Halbleib. The play and the interviews were later published by the University Press of Kentucky and the book entitled Country Doctor in 1999. Dr. Gish was very active in the theatre productions in Arizona and Kentucky. She was an original member of the Morehead Theatre Guild ad appeared in their first play 'Harvey' with Dr. Travis Lockhard. She also appeared in 13 other plays. With the MSU Theatre Department, she appeared in such plays as 'Cinderella' and 'Women of Tory.' Following retirement, she moved to Taos, New Mexico a place she had come to love after four residency grants to the Wurlitzer Artists retreat and after being hired three summers to organize the Wurlitzer libraries. After ten years in Taos, the altitude caused her to leave and return to Morehead. She was a member of PEO, Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels, and Jesus Our Savior Catholic Church. A funeral mass will be held Tuesday, July 2, 2013, at 4 p.m. at Jesus Our Savior Catholic Church (315 Battson-Oates Drive) with the Rev. Paul Prabell officiating. Following the mass, a gathering of family and friends will be held from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. at Northcutt & Son Home for Funerals, 400 Fraley Drive, Morehead, Kentucky. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Claire Hospice, 222 Circle Drive, Morehead, KY 40351 or Shriners Hospital for Children, 1900 Richmond Road, Lexington, KY 40502. Visitation: Tuesday, July 2, 2013, 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. (Northcutt & Son Home for Funerals) Funeral: Tuesday, July 2, 2013, at 4 p.m. (Jesus Our Savior Catholic Church)