Greta Shehan Broderick

Greta Shehan Broderick passed away on Wednesday, February 10, 2016 in San Antonio on her 83rd Birthday. She was born on February 10, 1933 in Ann Arbor, Michigan to Madeline and Roche Shehan, the second of their four children.

She attended the University of Michigan where she was a member of Chi Omega sorority and graduated with a degree in, and fostered a lifelong love of, history. A voracious reader, she was particularly interested in czarist Russia and the modern history of Western Europe and the United States. Following a brief sojourn to San Diego and a year working in New York for Condé Nast, she enrolled in the Harvard-Radcliffe Graduate Program in Business Administration, a program operated by the faculty and administration of the Harvard Business School through the auspices of its sister school, Radcliffe College, since women were not eligible for admission to the Harvard Business School at the time.

Upon graduation, Greta returned to Michigan and started a career in fashion merchandising with the J.L. Hudson Company in Detroit. A gifted merchant with a keen eye for style and design, she left Hudson's in 1966 to join May Department Stores, not knowing that she was embarking on a nearly 40 year journey that would take her and her two children from Pittsburgh, to St. Louis, Denver, and ultimately Los Angeles where she retired in 2003. Never one to sit idly by and a true lover of people, she promptly went back to work part time.

While her career literally took her around the world, with regular trips to New York, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, Greta was most dedicated to raising her kids, Peter and Carla. In her "spare" time, she loved listening to classical music, gardening, collecting early American antiques and folk art (cherishing the trips she and her sisters would take to New Hampshire and Maine each summer), reading, and football, particularly her beloved Denver Broncos. More than anything, she adored her grandchildren, Will and Kate, and took great delight in all they did and in just being around them.

Possessing an indomitable spirit and a warm soul, Greta brought great joy to her family and friends. She refused to let her two decade long battle with Parkinson's deter her, and despite the challenges the disease posed she took regular walks from her home at Incarnate Word to Central Market and Chase Bank, much to the concern of her family and care givers. She was deeply loved and will be greatly missed.

Preceded in death by her parents and her brother, William Roche Shehan, Greta is survived by her son, Peter Roche Broderick and his wife, Laura, of San Antonio, Texas; her daughter, Carla Ann Broderick of Los Angeles, California; her grandchildren, Katherine Hundley Broderick and William Roche Broderick; and her sisters, Mary Kay Shehan of St. Louis, Missouri and Patricia Talkington of San Antonio, Texas.

Services will be private.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the National Parkinson Foundation, Inc., Office of Development, 1501 N.W 9th Avenue-Bob Hope Road, Miami, Florida 33136 or the Pasadena, California Meals on Wheels, 54 North Oakland Avenue, Pasadena, California 91101.

The family would like to sincerely thank the staff and residents of The Village at Incarnate Word, with special thanks to those in the Assisted Living section of The Angelique House, for the care, love and compassion they had for Greta and for all they did for her.