shorthand for shirlee as if her job defined her. >> they're always calling her the housekeeper, and it's -- she was only there for a couple hours every couple weeks or a week, you know. >> reporter: to her brothers dan and brad, shirlee was big sis. the family glue after their parents divorced when they were young. >> she was the one that organized everything. she would call you before somebody's birthday and she would say you know it someone's birthday thursday, or she would get everybody to go in on gifts or she would help with the shopping and that aspect of it is -- you just don't realize it until it's gone. >> reporter: for shirlee's children, kelly and jeff, she was the single mom who often worked two jobs and stretched every dollar to make ends meet. >> we were one of the poorest families in the neighborhood. my mom worked bartending in the evening, cleaned houses during the day. >> gardening was her specialty. >> what'd she grow? >> everything. eggplant, tomatoes, five