Elbert Shirley

Elbert Shirley, age 79, of Canon, passed away on Thursday, October 1, 2026, at St. Mary’s Sacred Heart Hospital.

Born on September 14, 1947, in Stephens County Hospital, he was the son of the late Benny Shirley, Jr. & Ida Mae Smith Shirley. After high school Elbert went to work at Wright Manufacturing sweeping floors, he began working on the sewing machines and when they saw his ability to fix things he was given the opportunity to go to trade school to be trained on sewing machines, from there he went to the Oxford Industries as a machine engineer and on to Juki Industrial Sewing Machines where he traveled the country setting up company demonstrations. He traveled to the Dominican Republic where he built plants for Oxford Industries, he spent two years there building these plants from the ground up, the old-fashioned way. He also traveled to Germany and Japan setting up plants for the Juki Company. He was gifted to speak Spanish, which was a benefit for his travels, he was of the Baptist faith.

He is survived by his wife of 56 years: Joy Sosby Shirley; sons: Jeremy & Kim Shirley and Joshua Shirley & Nancy Hamre; grandchildren: Jessica Shirley, Colton Shirley; and sister: Janet Sosby.

Mr. Shirley’s request was to be cremated and the family will have a celebration of life at a later date.

Strickland Funeral Home of Lavonia is in charge of the arrangements. To sign the online guest register please visit stricklandfh.com.