Not a day goes by that Pat Boone does not miss his wife of 67 years, Shirley Boone, who passed away in 2019 at age 84. Speaking from the Beverly Hills, California, home that they had lived together in since 1960, Pat opened up to Closer Weekly about the death of his wife and the bond that kept them together for so many years.
"I’m living here alone with a housekeeper and my dog, a little cocker spaniel," the 86-year-old said. "Shadow is his name. It’s just me and my shadow, all alone and feeling blue," he continued. "I’m doing fine. I mean, gosh, I miss her."
The couple were high school sweethearts and although it took Pat a long time to pluck up the courage to kiss Shirley, when he eventually did, he knew it was love.
"We started holding hands the moment we met at David Lipscomb High School in Nashville when we were 16. Though we were both popular, active and healthy young kids, and I was strongly attracted to her, we didn't kiss for 9 months," he wrote in a tribute to his wife, which was published by CBN. "Tentatively, after a romantic school hayride in the fall of our junior year, I leaned in at her front door and kissed her gently for a second. I never recovered."
Three years later they were married. They went on to have four children together.
"We made our commitment in marriage to God and to each other," Pat told Closer Weekly of their faith. "We make our own decisions, but we are helped supernaturally. [I’m] willing to be led in doing the right things."
Pat believes he and Shirley will once again be reunited and he wrote about it in a song penned for his wife.
"I’d written a song called 'You and I,' and it expresses the thought that eventually we will be together in heaven," he explained. For now though, Pat is focusing on his faith and his family.
"My greatest accomplishment is our marriage of 65 years in Hollywood, being an entertainer and my four kids," he said. "We’re living a good life."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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