Shirley was born on February 6, 1923, in Alameda, California, to Captain Sivert and Mrs. Marie Axdal, both immigrants from Norway. Her father, Sivert, was Captain of the Alaska Packers’ Association’s fireboat Phoenix in San Francisco Bay.
Shirley had one sister, Harriet Barbara, who was 13 years her senior, her best friend, and shopping co-conspirator.
Shirley was an extremely intelligent woman, in an era when it did women little good (she was discouraged from accepting a college scholarship upon graduation from high school). She was, however, recognized as valedictorian of her graduating class at Alameda High School.
After completing courses at the Saline-Johnstone School for Secretaries, Shirley worked at the Alameda Naval Air Station during WW2.
She met her husband-to-be, Melvin Pedersen, on the dance floor at the 1940 “Norway Day on Treasure Island” benefit for “Norway Relief.” With their families watching from the sidelines, Mel tripped his way into Shirley’s heart, his huge smile and clumsy feet winning her over by the end of the evening. Shirley’s father predicted then that Shirley “would never get rid of him,” and he was right.
They married on March 23, 1946, at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Alameda, California, and lived happily together until Mel tragically passed away only 27 years later.
Shirley and Mel had two children. Their first child, Norm, is a computer scientist-turned-artist living in Oregon with his wife and fellow artist, Bobby.
Then along came their peripatetic daughter, Jan, who married diver Dave Sheldon back in 1985 in California. Dave soon became Shirley’s favorite son-in-law….
Shirley’s first grandchild was Norm’s son, Kraag Russell, born in 1972.
Jan’s two daughters, Jennifer and Christina, arrived a decade later. Shirley loved her two granddaughters and they loved her back, and all three greatly enjoyed their lovely long lunches together.
Shirley was also Godmother to Sandra (Jorgensen) Davis of Vacaville, and Linda (Jorgensen) Jones of Antioch, California.
Shirley was a foodie and a very good cook. Always willing to try something new, she rocked her granddaughters’ world when she served fresh cracked crab, Boudin’s sour dough, mountains of butter, and a chilled white wine for Thanksgiving dinner. It was a revelation to them that it was somehow legal not to have turkey for Thanksgiving, and it brought great joy....
Shirley’s other passion was traveling. She cruised, bused, flew, and rode trains all over the Mediterranean, Europe and the British Isles, and even braved a solo trip on the mail boat up the rugged Norwegian coastline. Shirley especially loved Hawaii.
Quiet waters run deep. Shirley didn’t talk much about her faith in God, but she lived it. Shirley believed strongly in Jesus’ teaching to ‘feed the hungry.’ In lieu of flowers, please donate to the food charity of your choice in Shirley’s memory.
Cheers, Nana. We love you.
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