Shirley Osborn Bellmon

Shirley Lee Osborn Bellmon was an American businesswoman who served as the 15th and 21st First Lady of Oklahoma during the tenures of her husband Henry Bellmon.

Biography

Shirley Lee Osborn was born on August 10, 1927, to Ray and Laurine Osborn in Billings, Oklahoma. She married Henry Bellmon on January 24, 1947, and the couple had three children. During her husband's first gubernatorial campaign in 1962, she organized "Bellmon Belles," a group of about 500 female volunteers for the campaign. She served as the First Lady of Oklahoma from 1963 to 1967 and 1987 to 1991. While her husband served in the U.S. Senate she founded the “Shir-Lee” dress label, created the “First Lady Doll Factory," and opened a restaurant called the First Lady Café. She died on July 24, 2000, of a heart attack in Massachusetts. She was buried in Billings and posthumously inducted into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame in 2001.