Shirley Ann Peterschmidt, 84, a longtime resident of Tyler, departed this life on January 14, 2019, after a life of service to her friends, family, and those she cared for during her long career as a CRNA. Shirley was born December 8, 1934, to L. C. Peterschmidt and Olga Watkins Peterschmidt, in St. Louis, Missouri, and was followed by three sisters, Mary, Kathy, and Nancy. The family moved from Missouri to Tulsa, Oklahoma, then to Dallas, Texas, where Shirley graduated from Ursuline Academy in 1952. She decided upon a career as a nurse, and soon earned her R.N. after training at St. Paul’s Nursing School at St. Paul’s Hospital in Dallas. She worked at Parkland Hospital in Dallas as a staff nurse before entering Anesthesia school at Baylor Hospital in Dallas and completing her education as a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist. Shirley then returned to Tyler and began her career at Medical Center Hospital. After several years there she went to work for Dr. John Maloney and Dr. James Holton, no doubt easing many a patient’s nerves before surgical procedures with her calm and capable demeanor and friendly personality. Shirley shared her knowledge and experience in her later years by teaching ACLS classes to her medical family, giving back to her community of professionals the benefit of her expertise. Her legacy is her lifetime of devoted service to those in need in the field of Medicine, the healing profession to which she was so well matched.
Shirley was strong in her Catholic faith, being a longtime parishioner of The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Tyler. Almost as close to her heart was her love of the Dallas Cowboys, and her love of her animals. Shirley was never without at least one canine or feline companion. She also never met a stranger, she was one of those people who was easy to know and always ready with a smile and a laugh, her giving spirit and ready laugh will truly be missed.
Shirley was preceded in death by her parents, L. C. and Olga Peterschmidt, by her sisters, Mary Lou Whitham and Kathy Leatherwood, her nephew James Whitham, and by her longtime friend and housemate, Mary Senter. She is survived by her sister, Nancy Dugan; her nieces, Ginny Smith, Shelley Janzcycki, Maggie Burgess, and Tracey Dyer; her nephews, Philip Whitham, Patrick Whitham, Shawn Snider, Chris Snider, and John Dyer; and a number of great-nieces and nephews and great-great-nieces and nephews.
Visitation will be held at 1 PM Sunday, January 20th, at Lloyd James Funeral Home in Tyler, followed by the recitation of the Rosary at 3:30 PM. The funeral Mass will be held at the Chapel of Sts. Peter and Paul at 10 AM on Monday, January 21st, followed by interment at Rose Hill Cemetery in Tyler.
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