Shirley Kiger Hough

Shirley Kiger Basinger Hough (89) of Elizabethtown, NC passed away peacefully on April 7, 2025 at Elizabethtown Nursing and Rehabilitation. She lived an exemplary life of her Christian faith by the way she served her community and church. Her unwavering commitment to impacting others by educating them through academics and through her knowledge of the Bible was inspirational. Her love for people was obvious by all the relationships she built and maintained throughout her life. Her outreach to others never wavered while she was on this earth.

Shirley’s career as an amazing educator was spent at Peace College in Raleigh and Southeastern Community College in Whiteville, NC. She was a long-time adult Sunday School teacher at Trinity Methodist Church but contributed a lot of her knowledge at Carver’s Creek Methodist Church in her latter years of church service.

She was known by the many committees she served on in the community. Some of the most recent are Bladen Community College Foundation Board and long-time volunteer at Bladen County Hospital. Shirley lived and served her community well for the fifty-five years that she lived in Bladen County and she served on such numerous committees that it is impossible to list them all. While understanding that the politics of community was important, she also understood the importance of uplifting those people who lived in it. She was always a patron of local businesses and was known for the many flowers she sent to uplift her friends and neighbors no matter what the occasion. Even in her last days she established her very own card outreach ministry. If you knew Shirley you probably got a card from her during her latter years of health struggles.

Shirley loved life and lived life to its fullest. She was a go-getter and never gave up no matter how hopeless or bleak a situation may have seemed. Her family, friends, and community will dearly miss her but will carry on the legacy she leaves behind.

She was preceded in death by her parents Mary Kiger Newsome Tomlinson and Ernest William Kiger; husband, William Amos Hough, Jr; brother, Ernest Wilkerson Kiger; and step-son-in-law Gary Powers.

She is survived by her son Mikeal Reid Basinger (Penny) of Sanford, NC; step-daughter Sally Hough Powers of Lumberton, NC; and step-son William Amos Hough III (Diane) of West Wareham, Mass; her grandchildren, Meredith Wicker (Jackson), Katie Ellis (Jeff), and Kiley Basinger; step-grandchildren, Stefanie Goodman (Jon), Bradley Powers (April); and Madison and Eliza Hough; great grandchildren: Hayze, Reece, Ella June, and Finn Wicker; and Clarke and Luke Ellis, step-great grandchildren, Callie, Addy, and Ella Powers, and Micah Goodman.

The family will receive friends from 6-8 pm on Sunday, April 13 at Bladen-Gaskins Funeral Home, 3131 MLK Dr, Elizabethtown, NC. A funeral service will be held at 1:00 pm on Monday, April 14 at Trinity Methodist Church 901 W. Broad St., Elizabethtown, NC. A private burial will precede the service.

Memorials may be sent to Trinity Methodist Church, Elizabethtown, NC 28337 or Carver’s Creek Methodist Church, Council, NC 28434