Shirley is survived by her nieces Lynn Ross and Paige Ross (Ross Folan) of Calgary, and numerous cousins, aunts, and uncles. She was predeceased by her parents Ralph and Edna Rees of Calgary and her sister Brenda and brother in-law James Ross of Calgary, and countless other family members who are missed dearly.
Shirley will be lovingly remembered by her found family Wendy Rudd, Katie Florian (Levi Chase-Levesque), Mr. Pat Florian (Natasha Hart), Vivian Chenard (Alan Martin aka The Man), and Jesse and Karma Chenard. She was a beloved grandmother to Sadie Wolski and to Emma, Eva, Taylor, Scarlett, and Mila Chenard.
She was known for her kindness, generosity, sense of humour, love of music, gardening, photography, golf, and her service to her friends, family and community. Her laughter was contagious, and we will miss her cooking, baking, knitting and sewing, to say nothing of the way she would elbow her way into the dish sink!
A life well lived - Shirley’s adventures span the globe. She lived in Canada’s northern territories, toured Europe with a band, nannied on a sailboat in the Mediterranean, served Alice Cooper as a barmaid in London, traveled to Hawaii, Mexico and countless other countries.There is no shortage of stories to reminisce over.
Although Dawson Creek was not her favourite place to live, it was there that she forged friendships with Wendy, Viv, Penny, Barb and Henk. 48 years later, they are all grateful that she led the trek away from Dawson to the west coast. Returning to Salt Spring Island for a second time, she continued her adventures as a deckhand on BC ferries with a brief stint on the weather ship which used to operate far out in the Pacific Ocean. In 1979 she moved to Victoria to begin training as a licensed practical nurse (LPN).
Her life was devoted to helping others; Shirley’s nursing career began as an LPN on the gynecology ward at the Royal Jubilee Hospital. Following the completion of the RN program, she went on to work on surgical ward 7A at the Victoria General Hospital, taking a sabbatical to work as a charge nurse in Texas with her friends Deborah and Sue. Following her time on 7A, Shirley moved to the Boys & Girls Club to work with a program for at-risk expectant mothers, and at the same time completed her BScN degree. She then went on to work at the Esquimalt Community Centre’s Best Babies program, supporting new mothers. The final years of her nursing career were at Victoria General Hospital where she worked as an RN on the 5C short stay assessment unit, and 6C as a clinical nurse leader. After a brief retirement, Shirley returned as a diabetic nurse educator at the Royal Jubilee Hospital before fully retiring in 2018.
In addition to her full-time work as a nurse, Shirley and Viv started a community kitchen where they helped young women learn cooking skills while preparing take-home meals. They also ran a program called RISE, teaching meditation skills to people diagnosed with AIDS. Shirley was a tireless volunteer for the Times Colonist Book Sale, the James Bay Community Closet, and Government House. As a friend, sister, aunty, and grandma, she was always there to lend a hand, go for a walk, and share a laugh.
She learned transcendental meditation in 1977 and meditated daily for the rest of her life. In 1989 she joined her friend Viv as a student of Eknath Easwaran, and they dived deeply into spiritual life under his guidance.
In her retirement years Shirley kept herself busy with many social circles including The Longtime KnitWits, Marge Mondays, Tuesday Walkers, Tuesday Meditation Group (Satsang), Butchart Gardens Ladies, The Golfers, The Retiree Groups, The Belfry Group, Book Club, Annual TC Book Sale Volunteer Group, The Aquafitters and so many more we might have forgotten.
Shirley died suddenly from complications resulting from an undiagnosed aggressive cancer. Her closest friends and family were assured by medical staff that she was unaware of this diagnosis, and that she did not suffer. At the end, Wendy held her hand and sang her to the other side.
Her family and friends would like to say a special thank you to friends Patti and Wendy who watched over Shirley and convinced her to go to the hospital when she did.
Utmost gratitude is also due to the wonderful staff of Royal Jubilee Hospital, who provided extremely skillful and compassionate care to Shirley from the time she arrived at hospital through to her final moments.
For those of you who are unable to attend the Celebration of Life in person, you are invited to join via the live stream link: https://funeraweb.tv/en/diffusions/88344
In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to one of Shirley’s favourite charities: James Bay Community Closet, SPCA, Times Colonist Book Drive (save your books for the book fair!), Victoria Food Bank, YMCA or another place of your choice.
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