The couple had a son, Peter and Thoms stepped away from show business, however John Sole died prematurely.

In 1970, Thoms came out of retirement to appear on the Captain Cook Bicentenary Show in the Tamworth Town Hall and briefly revived her career with album releases in 1970 and 1972.

[3] Her most popular and best selling recordings were "The Faithful Old Dog", "Where The Golden Wattle Blooms" and "Yodelling in the Moonlight".

[4] After suffering from Parkinson's disease and a heart condition, she died in 1999, at Summerland Point, Lake Macquarie, NSW, aged 74.

[3] There is a collection of bronze busts in Bicentennial Park, Tamworth that includes Shirley Thoms, Stan Coster, Tex Morton, Gordon Parsons, Barry Thornton and Buddy Williams.