Shirley Mae Forsyth

Shirley was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on March 24, 1928 to Frank Edward and Clara Marie Kilps. She attended the University of Wisconsin and graduated from Michigan State with a BA Degree in Sociology and a teaching degree. She completed her graduate studies at the University of Maryland and San Jose University and taught elementary through secondary school for seventeen years.

Shirley met and married James A. Forsyth, who worked at the Defense Language Institute, in 1954. She also worked for the Defense Department as a Recreational Specialist in Morale Support Activities.

Shirley, her husband and their two children came to Carmel, California in 1975. Shirley was a substitute teacher at Santa Catalina School and also the Carmel Unified School District.

In 1978, Shirley’s husband passed away and she pursued the second phase of her career. She became Director of Recreation Centers in the USMCA at Wurzburg area of Germany from 1981 – 1987. She took advantage of her employment here to travel throughout Europe over a period of six years. In 1987, she returned to the United States and took an assignment at Elgin Air Force Base in Florida. She retired in 1989 and returned to her home in Carmel.

Shirley spent her retirement years as a volunteer at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula where served at the reception desk and ICU surgery for twenty years. She also devoted her time to the Carmel Valley Historical Society.

Shirley enjoyed playing Bridge and always found a table on her many vacation trips. She and her son, Jim. were often found at the Bridge Center of Monterey and, in her later years, she enjoyed playing Bridge with her friends on her computer. She and her son spent many years traveling together to many parts of the world. They each had a fascination for spending time in various countries. Shirley also enjoyed the Arts and supported them in every way she could.

Shirley is survived by her son, James Franklin Forsyth of Carmel and her daughter, Anne Bethany (Jeffrery) Aas of Wallingford, VT and her grandson, Tyler of Newport, RI.

Memorial contributions are suggested to the SPCA for Monterey County, PO Box 3058, Monterey, CA, 93942. Please visit www.thepaulmortuary.com to sign Shirley’s guest book and leave messages for her family.