After retiring from baseball, Plews worked for cement plants. First, he worked for a Kaiser Permanente plant in Montana, but later, he moved to Colorado, where he worked at one in the Denver area started by former major leaguer Dale Mitchell.
Shirley died of cancer in 2009, and Plews died on December 12, 2014. At his death, he was the only athlete from the Helena area to play Major League Baseball.