Shirley Shafer passed away after several months of declining health on Saturday, December 16, 2017, at the Presidential Center in Marion, Ohio. She was 83.
Shirley Ann Penrod was born February 25, 1934, second of the three daughters of Leroy Ray and Agnes Eliza (Briggs) Penrod of Piqua, Ohio. She was raised in Piqua and graduated from Piqua Central High School, class of 1952. She married Joseph Clarence Shafer of Covington, Ohio, on November 6, 1952. They had been introduced two years earlier by a mutual friend.
After a brief honeymoon, the couple moved to El Paso, Texas, so Joe could complete his remaining 6 months of service as a U.S. Army corporal stationed at Ft. Bliss. When Joe was discharged from the Army, they returned to Piqua, where their first son, Michael Joseph, was born on December 13, 1953. Their second son, Steven Ray, was born April 5, 1956.
A career opportunity for Joe prompted the family to move to Marion in 1962. Over the next 12 years, Shirley was active in the Marion City Schools PTA and a variety of other parent groups in support of her sons’ educational, athletic, and musical activities at Marion Harding High School. Friendships she developed in those organizations lasted for decades. In 1969, she began a 23-year association with the Sears store in Marion, working part-time in several sales and store administration positions until she retired. For many years, a running family joke on Christmas Day was feigned amazement that seemingly every gift came out of a Sears box, regardless of where it had been purchased.
Once their sons were on their own, Shirley and Joe enjoyed travel throughout the United States and occasionally Europe, often accompanied by Shirley’s sisters or Joe’s brothers. A favorite vacation was in 1997, when Shirley, Joe, their sons and their wives, and Mike’s two children spent a week together in Hawaii. In a later year, Shirley and Joe visited Denali National Park in Alaska and then met Mike, Steve, and their wives for a coastal Alaskan cruise. Shirley also enjoyed occasional visits with Joe or her sisters to casinos in Wheeling, Cincinnati, Las Vegas, and elsewhere, where she demonstrated mastery – and luck unmatched by anyone in her family – with penny slot machines.
Always proud of their homes, Shirley and Joe spent later years tending to their condo at Eaglewood in Marion and enjoying the company of their family and friends. Their grandchildren and great-grandchildren have been special sources of great joy.
Shirley will be dearly missed by Joe, her husband of more than 65 years, of the Primrose Retirement Community in Marion; sons Michael (Kathryn) of Powell, Ohio, and Steven (Ardene) of Wake Forest, North Carolina; grandchildren Eric (Darcy) of Worthington and Amy of Columbus; great-grandchildren Allyson and Caroline; sisters June Nicholas (of Piqua) and Kay Penrod (of Powell); sister-in-law Marlene Shafer (of Troy, Ohio); and three nieces, a nephew, and their families.
Her family will greet friends from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. on Saturday, January 6, 2018, at the Snyder Funeral Homes, DENZER Chapel, 360 E. Center St., Marion. Services honoring her life will follow there at 1 p.m., with Celebrant Mark Schuring officiating. Burial will be observed privately by her family in Marion Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association or a charity of your own choosing.
Snyder Funeral Homes of Marion are honored to have been chosen to serve Shirley’s family and your favorite memories and condolences may be expressed to them via www.SnyderFuneralHomes.com.
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