Karen Ermine (Wheatbread) Shelby

Karen Ermine Shelby, age 73, of San Diego, California passed away on Monday, September 13, 2021. A visitation for Karen will be held Monday, September 27, 2021, from 4:00pm to 8:00pm at El Camino Memorial - Sorrento Valley, 5600 Carroll Canyon Rd, San Diego, CA 92121. A funeral service will occur Tuesday, September 28, 2021, from 10:00am to 11:00am at Saint David's Episcopal Church, 5050 Milton St, San Diego, CA 92110. A graveside service will occur Tuesday, September 28, 2021, from 11:30am to 12:30pm at El Camino Memorial Park, 5600 Carroll Canyon Rd, San Diego, CA 92121.

Karen passed due to lung failure at Scripps Memorial in San Diego, California. She is survived by her spouse, Ron Shelby, her son Nathan and his wife Rebecca Shelby, her brother Paul Wheatbread, and her grandchildren Kate and Jack Shelby.

Karen was born May 5th, 1948, at Mercy Hospital in San Diego, California to Len and Ermine Wheatbread. She had two brothers, Paul and Mark, with whom she was raised with in Bay Park. She loved music, especially The Beatles, and would often attend concerts all around San Diego and Southern California.

She attended Clairemont High School and would go on to graduate from San Diego State University. Later in life she returned to school to earn her Master of Arts in Human Development. She met her spouse, Ron, in Pacific Beach and would go on to marry him in 1970. In 1973, she had her only child, her son Nathan.

She worked as a pre-school teacher for a few years before being promoted to the director of Loma Alta Preschool in Point Loma. After time in that position, she sought work at the YMCA’s Childcare Resource Service (CRS), an organization that shared her strong beliefs in the benefits of early childhood education. There she would spend 27 years, helping parents all over San Diego get access to licensed preschool and daycare for their children. She also loved to work on getting funding grants to CRS to expand their capabilities. Often, she would travel to Sacramento and Washington D.C. to work towards better funding and laws for early childhood education.

In lieu of gravesite flowers or for memorial donations, the family is asking for contributions in Karen’s name to the National Audubon Society.

“If you are planning for a year, sow rice. If you are planning for ten years, plant trees. If you are planning for a lifetime, educate the children” – old proverb

"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." - Ralph Waldo Emerson