Lorraine J. Shedlick

Nurse, wife, mother and Foreign Service spouse has died after a long illness on Friday, August 25, 2017. She was a powerhouse of a woman, who overcame the challenges of growing up in the Depression era foster care system. Lorraine was born in Queens, New York. She graduated a year early in 1951 from John Adams High School and entered the Brooklyn Hospital School of Nursing where she became a Registered Nurse. She received her BSN in 1976 from George Mason University. During her varied nursing career, she worked at the Brooklyn Hospital, the Richelieu Pearl Company, the Dominican School in Taipei, Taiwan, the Visiting Nurse Association of America in Northern Virginia, the Exxon Oil Company in Cairo, Egypt, and the Peace Corps in Manila, PI.

Her greatest love, however, was caring for her family and devoting herself to her husband of 58 years, Thomas Joseph Shedlick (deceased). She married Tom in 1955 and they raised four children. They lived both stateside and abroad from 1966 until 1987 during Tom’s career. Their previous homes included Oakdale, New York; Taipei, Taiwan; Cairo, Egypt; Manila, Philippines; Alexandria, Virginia and Springfield, Virginia. Lorraine was an excellent writer. She often wrote articles for the various overseas post newsletters and served as the editor for the U. S. Embassy Women’s Club during her posting in Manila. She enjoyed word games, swimming, traveling the world with her husband and learning languages. Mother and grandmother, she will be missed by her four children: Thomas Peter (Madelaine), Edward Paul (Gail), James Patrick (Lauri) and Lorri-Ann Patricia (Patrick) and by her eight grandchildren: Ryan, Jimmy (Alice), Kevin, Connor, Carly, Tommy, Mollie and Meagan.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Lawrence Catholic Church, 6222 Franconia Road, Alexandria, VA, at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 2, 2017. The family will receive friends for visitation prior to the Mass at Demaine Funeral Home, 5308 Backlick Road, Springfield, VA from 6:00-8:00 p.m. on Friday, September 1, 2017. Interment at Arlington National Cemetery will occur at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, please donate in Lorraine’s name to: The Alzheimer’s Association at www.alz.org.