Celeste Germaine Shotts

Celeste was blessed with two bi-lateral transplants which helped extend her life and as many of you know she had a passion for helping animals and especially wanted to help dogs.

Celeste Shotts Biography:

Celeste was born on April 23, 1950 to Jack and Madonna Crescenzi in Sioux City, Iowa. She was the second of four siblings Karen, Jackie and Jim. Her dad Jack was a telegraph operator for the railroad and moved the family to Chemult, OR when Celeste was a little girl. Later the family moved to Medford, OR and then to the Concord, CA where both Celeste and Karen were diagnosed with a genetic disease now known as Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia (PCD). PCD resulted in many infections and a portion of her lung having to be removed at the age of eight. Though the disease kept her out of elementary school for months at time she still managed to keep up with her work. In 1962 Celeste’s family moved back to Chemult where her dad bought a Union 76 service station.

Chemult is a small central Oregon community where the kids must be bussed to Gilchrist Oregon for school. The school in Gilchrist is a single campus for grades 1-12 in Klamath County. While living in Chemult Celeste was mostly healthy and happy. She made life-long friends with most of the people in the small town. Her best friend was Bonnie Taylor who stayed in contact with Celeste throughout her life. Activities like trapping chipmunks at the dump, riding motorcycles, and just playing with other kids filled her days outside of school. Celeste helped her family out after school by preparing dinner and taking care of her younger siblings while her mom worked as the Chemult post master. Celeste also found time and spending money working in some of Chemult’s restaurants. Celeste was a quiet, yet popular girl that became the homecoming queen her junior year while she started dating and going steady with her future husband and eternal partner Charlie Shotts. Together they decided marriage was the only option as they managed to convince their parents and overcome the objections of a very skeptical Judge that a marriage license was in order. On Labor Day weekend 1968 Celeste and Charlie were married in the small Catholic Church in Gilchrist.

The next step for Celeste was to fill her Chevy Corvair with her belongings and follow Charlie in his Blue VW Beetle to Oregon State. Living off campus as a young married couple was a unique college experience for the young newlyweds. Celeste managed two years of college and was on track to become an elementary school teacher when her first baby Chuck came into the world. Chuck was born in 1971 and Charlie completed college in 1972 and was lucky to get a job with CH2M (an engineering company) as well as join the National Guard.

The National Guard took Charlie for 4 months of training while Celeste had to find some employment to survive. That led her to a job waiting tables at The Gables, a restaurant in Corvallis where she worked for a number of years. She was a very good at her job and often made more money than her husband. In 1975 her second child Carlin was born. It was then Celeste chose to make being a mom her main occupation. Charlie was required to travel with extended stays for both work and the National Guard so Celeste was a busy lady taking care of two young kids and working.

In 1978 Celeste moved to Redding CA due to a transfer for Charlie. In Redding Celeste became a fulltime homemaker but decided to take in many friends and neighbors kids for day care. The family lived in Redding a few years where Celeste made many good friends. She then moved to Moraga, CA for two years for another of Charlie’s work transfers. In Moraga Celeste became fast friends with the Melen family from Germany with boys similar in age to Chuck and Carlin. This friendship lead to a 3 week vacation in Germany after the Melen’s returned home. While in the Bay Area Celeste also decided to become an electrologist and after a number of months of study she got her certification.

Upon returning to Redding Celeste opened her own electrologist business. Of course she continued to be a homemaker and mom for her boys. In 1988 Charlie uprooted the family again for a two year stint in Corvallis, OR. During this stay in Corvallis the family rented a small farm on the out skirts of town. Celeste took care of the farm house, helped with the chicken eggs, and generally had a good time. She also adopted a little puppy, Tea Biscuit (T-boo) who she fell hard for and was devastated when T-boo was killed by a car. This short time she had with T-boo had a profound impact on Celeste’s spirituality and love of small wayward dogs. She always said that she could feel T-boo’s spirit pass through her at the exact moment she was taken.

In 1989 Celeste, Charlie and Carlin moved to Milwaukee, WI for another CH2M assignment. Chuck, having recently graduated from Corvallis High, stayed in Oregon with grandparents working and then went on to college in the fall. Milwaukee was a new experience for the family. Celeste was a crossing guard for a while, a veterinary assistant, and also collected a couple of her favorite little dogs, Blue and Mars, to go along with our big dog Boy who was originally from Redding. As usual Celeste made a number of close friends which seemed to be the case where ever she went. She often walked or went to a gym and was such a fast walker during that time that her husband, an avid runner had to jog to keep up. Carlin graduated from High School and attended a year of college in Wisconsin leaving Celeste and Charlie empty nesters for the first time.

In 1995, after six years in Milwaukee, it was back to Corvallis, OR for another CH2M assignment. Celeste moved to a home on a 2 acre wooded lot near Philomath, OR. In the beautiful surrounding forests she began hiking and usually hiked a fast 4 or 5 miles every day. She also did some volunteering at the Cat’s Meow a Humane Society thrift shop. Carlin lived at home for a short time but soon ventured out on his own. Around 2000 Celeste started having more health issues, first a parathyroid tumor drove her crazy and wasn’t diagnosed for a couple of years, then a sinus surgery to help with multiple infections, and finally pseudomonas bacteria infected her lungs and was very difficult to treat.

After deciding the deep, dark woods of Philomath weren’t the place to be anymore, Celeste and Charlie moved to a new home in Corvallis with a beautiful view. This house would become Celeste’s favorite and she would have rebuilt it later in life had there been the chance. Her lung infections lead her to University Oregon Health in Portland and National Jewish in Denver looking for a treatment. Nothing worked well for her lungs and the disease kept creeping up on her.

In 2006 CH2M offered a move to Denver, CO and Celeste was happy because both Chuck and Carlin lived in the Colorado already. By then Chuck had two beautiful girls Celeste and Gracie. It wasn’t long before Carlin and his wife Brooke added Wentzle and Zephyr to the grandchild list. Grandchildren were very special for Celeste as she adored them all. As Celeste came into Denver on the move her first stop was National Jewish Hospital for Oxygen. It wasn’t long after setting up a home in Castle Rock, CO that it became apparent her lungs were continuing to fail. In December of 2006 she was listed for a lung transplant at University of Colorado Hospital. In July 2008 she was blessed with new transplanted lungs.

Celeste was very fortunate with her first transplant and recovered quickly. Within less than a year she and Charlie were able to take a camping vacation to Yellow Stone Park with friends Bonnie and Jim Williams. Family and friend time continued to take up her life as well as rescuing more dogs from the Boulder Humane Society. Her amazing group of neighbors around her home in Castle Rock became great, life-long friends.

In 2012 CH2M offered an opportunity for Celeste and Charlie to move to Doha Qatar for a year! Celeste convinced Charlie and her Doctors at UCH that she was up for the adventure. The year in Qatar was wonderful for Celeste as she made many friends with an organization called American Women Abroad. She also made many friends with local workers just by being an open, caring and loving person with a very engaging smile. The Qatar adventure also allowed her to take a quick trip to Barcelona, Spain and another to Athens, Greece. Midway through the year Celeste got to travel home visit with family and pick up another load of rejection medication. Of course on the trip home from Qatar Celeste brought her newest little three-legged rescue dog Tari. Celeste always loved birthday celebrations… especially her own! For her 63rd birthday she gathered up a number of her friends, got dressed up, rented a limousine, and took them to the Brown Hotel in Denver for a Tea (a favorite past time of she and her friends). Undoubtedly her best and most memorable birthday party ever!

Shortly after returning from Qatar in February of 2013 Celeste began having infections and problems with her new lungs. By the end of 2013 she was diagnosed with Chronic Rejection, the worst words a transplant recipient could hear. The only cure for chronic rejection is another transplant. UCH declined the risky second transplant but recommended Celeste try a larger transplant center.

Celeste went to Duke Medical in Durham, NC and after a few months of testing and physical rehabilitation was listed for another double lung transplant. Seven months after arriving in Durham on New Year’s Eve 2014 Celeste received the miracle of another set of lungs. Throughout her stay in Durham Celeste met a number of other folks waiting for and receiving lung transplants. While there she and Charlie became part of the Lung Brothers and Sisters group which is active locally and on Facebook. She loved and shared with all she encountered there and is loved by many of the wonderful brave group.

After a long and hard hospital recovery and continued physical rehab Celeste was finally released to head home to Colorado over a year after arriving in NC. This transplant continued to provide challenges such as acute rejection and infections so it wasn’t the result she had hoped for. Celeste had some good days and many bad days but continued to fight heroically for a longer life. Thanksgiving and Christmas with the family, time with friends and time with her beloved fur kids kept her going. She ventured back to Duke Medical for a Clinic March 6, 2016 and fell ill while there. After a 35 day stay in the hospital with very aggressive treatment Celeste, in a very weak state, decided she wanted to head to Colorado for the finish line where her friends and loved ones were waiting. Due to her high oxygen needs Charlie and son Chuck drove her home on a marathon 30 hour RV cross country trip. Celeste was very weak and using comfort medications to help her with the journey. Upon arriving home she was able to see some of her friends and her immediate family, but her body was giving up quickly. On April 18, 2016 Celeste became the Angel that she always was with her soul mate Charlie sitting by her side loving her and watching her take her last breath.