Rev. William S. Shirley passed away on December 26, 2020. He is survived by his wife, Rosemary; his children, Matthew and his wife Gail Shirley, Sylvia and her husband Ibrahim Elsayed, and Eleanor Shirley; his grandchildren Adam (Kelli) Elsayed, Jacob Elsayed, Joshua Shirley, Shannon (Matt) Montague and Chelsea (Nick) Marler, and 6 great-grandchildren. He died of natural causes in his sleep, after suffering from dementia.
Bill Shirley believed that life is about so much more than personal wealth, comfort or accomplishment. He was a conscientious objector during WWII. He studied at Park College and attended seminary at Yale University after the war, serving as a Presbyterian minister his entire adult life. He began his work as a minister with an internship in the Appalachian coal fields, and was a proud supporter of organized labor. He was an active member of Pittsburgh Presbytery, and firmly believed in the importance of attending and participating in Presbytery meetings (he considered it part of his duty as a member of the church). He was also an early member in the NAACP and CORE and shared with his children that he once met Dr. Martin Luther King. He was an active Kiwanis member most of his adult life. He loved baseball and was a devoted fan of the New York Yankees, the Detroit Tigers and the Pittsburgh Pirates. He loved to swim, and once competed in a Masters swim relay race with his children, Matt and Ellie.
Due to Covid-19, his memorial service will be private. A webpage is available at Brandt's Funeral Home, H.P.BrandtFuneralHome.com, to post condolences or share your memories of Bill.
Also, the family requests, in lieu of flowers, donations to Light of Life Mission, http://www.lightoflife.org or the University of Pittsburgh Alzheimer Disease Research Center, https://www.adrc.pitt.edu/.
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