Shirley Lockwood Larson was one of those kids who loved to sing for guests who visited her parents' home.
That love began a lifelong dedication to the vocal arts. Whether she was taking lessons, giving lessons, organizing her own performing groups or taking part in others, she continued her passion for singing well into her later years, including performances with her second husband, retired WCCO weather forecaster Bud Kraehling.
"It was like having a bird in the house, my twin brother used to say," said Larson's daughter, Valerie Haynes. "She was always singing somewhere and performing. She was like the star of our extended family."
Larson died Aug. 16 at age 91 from cancer at her home in Bloomington.
After they married in 2004, Larson and Kraehling developed a show of their own called "The Weatherman and the Singing Lady," which they performed at many venues, including senior centers and nursing homes.
"They were always very inspiring to older people, that life doesn't stop when you retire," Haynes said.
The two performed together until about a year before Kraehling died in 2015.
"Audiences loved them," said friend Jackie Lotsberg. "Partly because of Bud and his history, but Shirley too had her own following."