Shirley Ulmer Rodrigues passed away at age 90 in Bend.
She was born on July 7, 1926, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to William and Bessie Ulmer. She grew up in Cincinnati, attending and graduating from Withrow High School in 1944. While working in the accounting department of a local auto dealership she met Sherwood Rodrigues, whom she would marry in 1952. They had three children while in Cincinnati.
The family moved to California in 1958, eventually settling in Los Altos, into a home that Shirley designed. Two more children were born during this time. Shirley and Sherwood were divorced in 1966, and Shirley returned to the workforce in the early years of the development of Silicon Valley, working for companies Advantek, Fairchild Semiconductor, and Schlumberger. In the early 1970s Shirley and family moved to Milpitas and then to Sunnyvale in the late '70s.
In 1980, when the children had grown and left the nest, Shirley moved to the Sierra Nevada foothill community of Paradise, California. She worked in a tax and bookkeeping office as a secretary and bookkeeper, and then for Feather River Hospital as a hospital admittance clerk. She retired from Feather River Hospital in 2002. In 2004 she moved to Wilsonville, Oregon, and then again to Central Oregon in 2009, to be closer to her eldest son and his wife.
Her Christian faith was always an important part of Shirley's life, and she was an active member and leader everywhere she lived - Madisonville Methodist Episcopal Church (Cincinnati, OH), St. Timothy's Episcopal Church (Mountain View, CA), St. Nicholas' Episcopal Church (Paradise, CA), St. Francis Episcopal Church (Wilsonville, OR), Church of The Transfiguration Episcopal Church (Sisters, OR).
She is survived by her brothers Bill, David and Sam; by her children Ted (Gayle), Mark, Amy, Judy (Jim), Anthony (Kim), and grandchildren, great grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her sister, Betty. Memorial contributions may be made to: The Sisters of The Transfiguration in Cincinnati, Ohio, or Partners in Care Hospice, in Bend, Oregon. Services will be held at St. Timothy's Episcopal Church, Mountain View, California on Friday, September 23. Burial will be near her parents in Arlington Memorial Gardens, in Cincinnati.
Reader Comments(0)