Shirley Demus Tarpley's Obituary
Family, friends, and dignitaries will gather on Saturday, May 25, 2024, to celebrate the Honorable Shirley Jean Demus Tarpley who transitioned to her heavenly home on Friday, May 10, 2024. — Born and reared in Dallas, Texas, Shirley lived her life committed to God, family, church, education, and community. She grew up in a home with her godly parents, Lloyd David and Cedella Baker Demus, along with four sisters and three brothers.
In 1959, Shirley Tarpley graduated from Booker T. Washington High School, (presently recognized as Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts), a segregated school at the time. During that time, Booker T. Washington High School was one of three African American High schools in the Dallas Independent School District (DISD). She graduated from Prairie View A&M University, a Historical Black College & University (HBCU) in Prairie View, Texas, with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Education and a Minor Degree in Economics.
After graduating from college, she married and began working as a Production Secretary for the Collins Radio Company (subsequently named Rockwell International). The company was contracted by the United States government to produce the communication system for the first spaceship launched by the U.S. Space Program. Working on the communications system was one of the highlights in her life because she received the highest security clearance from the Federal government to work on the project.
In 1965, Shirley and the late Mr. Lorenzo Tarpley moved to Carrollton, Texas, and purchased their first home, which at the time was a small suburban town of only 9,000 plus residents. Today Carrollton’s population is approximately 150,000. At the time, Black residents comprised about six percent of the city’s population, which was geographically segregated. The Tarpley’s became the first Black family to integrate the “all-white” section of town.
Shirley integrated R. L. Turner High School (RLT), the only high school in the Carrollton Farmers Branch I.S.D. (C-FBISD) at the time. Except for her first year of teaching at RLT, she was voted one of the Top 10 Teachers by each senior class until she transferred to the second high school built in CFBISD, Newman Smith High School (NSHS). In 1978, she integrated NSHS, where she remained until her retirement in 1996.
She and her husband had two children, a son, Jarrell, and a daughter Sheila. Jarrell is married to Cleo Spann; they have one son, Deven, and reside in Venus, Texas. Sheila is married to William (Bill) Lott; they have three children – Tyanna, David, and Philip – and they live in Carrollton, Texas.
In 1991 Shirley became the first Black female to integrate and serve on the Carrollton City Council. In 1993 she ran unopposed for city council and received the second highest votes in the history of Carrollton’s elections. Her record stands to this day. In 1995 she became the first Black American to serve as Mayor Pro Tem for the City of Carrollton.
Shirley received her Master’s Certificate in Dispute Resolution (Mediation, Negotiation, and Arbitration) from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. In 2001, she became the first Religious Editor for the North Dallas Gazette weekly newspaper in Plano, Texas. Shirley’s parents taught her to take pride in her heritage, to strive for the best in everything, to accept people as they are, and to love and trust God above everybody and everything else. She continued to live by the teachings of her late parents and always shared this philosophy with her children, family, church, school, and community.
Shirley was a proud member of Bethel Bible Fellowship Church in Carrollton, Texas where Dr. Terrance Woodson is the Senior Pastor and Bernadette Moore is the Associate Pastor. Throughout Shirley Tarpley’s life she received many awards, accolades, and pioneering achievements:
• The sixth child born of eight children, she was the first to attend and graduate from college.
• Church:
o Senior Pastor’s Personal Secretary.
o Announcer.
o Sunday School Superintendent.
o Sunday School Teacher.
• First “Class Act” Teacher in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) Metroplex, as selected by KDFW-TV, Channel 4 (1993).
• Carrollton Park’s First Black Board Member.
• First Black Executive Board Member of the
o City of Carrollton Bi-Centennial Commission.
o Carrollton’s Peewee Football Association.
o Carrollton’s Peewee Cheerleader Association.
o Parents, Teachers & Students Associations (PTSAs) at Central Elementary
School, Dewitt Perry Jr. Middle School, and R. L. Turner High School
o Carrollton’s Country Fair Committee
• Peewee Team Mother for many of Carrollton’s football and cheerleader teams.
• Senior Class Sponsor at Newman Smith High School (NSHS).
• Junior Cheerleader Team Sponsor at NSHS.
• PTSA Member at NSHS.
• Co-Sponsor of NSHSs ACT-SO Organization of the NAACP.
• Sponsor of Black History Programs in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch I.S.D (CFBISD).
• Instrumental in bringing the first Black History Class to C-FBISD.
• Instrumental in C-FBISD honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with the schools
being closed for his federal holiday each year.
• Honored for contributions to C-FBISD by Christ Community Connection (CCC), a
non-profit community organization in Carrollton.
Visitation: Friday, May 24, 2024 – 12:00PM CT to 8:00 PM CT
Restland Funeral Home
13005 Greenville Ave
Dallas, TX 75243
(972) 238-7111
Homegoing Service: Saturday, May 25, 2024 – Visitation 9:00 AM CT; Service 10:00 AM CT
First Baptist Church at The Fields
1401 Carrollton Pkwy
Carrollton, TX 75010
(972) 512-3800
Interment: Immediately Following Homegoing Service
Restland Funeral Home
13005 Greenville Ave
Dallas, TX 75243
(469) 925-1436
Repast: Immediately Following Interment
Bethel Bible Fellowship
1944 E Hebron Pkwy
Carrollton, TX 75007
(972) 4924300
Admirations:
We know everyone’s grief is personal as is the way you want to pay respects to the Honorable
Shirley Demus Tarpley. Your prayers are always desired. If you want to show your appreciation
in other ways:
Flowers/Plants:
Rembrandt Florist
13005 Greenville Ave
Dallas, TX 75243
(972) 761-8989
www.rembrandtflorist.com
Donation:
An academic scholarship is being created in the Honorable Shirley Demus Tarpley’s name. The
scholarship will benefit high school graduating seniors attending Prairie View A & M University,
majoring in Agriculture, Business, or Education. Details will follow with instructions on how to
donate to the “Shirley Demus Tarpley Academic Scholarship Program.
What’s your fondest memory of Shirley?
What’s a lesson you learned from Shirley?
Share a story where Shirley's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Shirley you’ll never forget.
How did Shirley make you smile?