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Service:
A memorial service will be held in New Bethlehem, PA
in the spring of 2021.
Funeral home: Holland Barry & Bennett Funeral
Home
Obituary
On this day, December 21, 2020,
our mother Shirley Joanne McCauley Stuart left this
world for a better place. She was 84 years old. She
leaves behind her three daughters, Pamela Stanich,
Rachel Garey (Butch Garey), and Sarah Faith (David
Faith), four grandchildren, four
great-grandchildren, her sister Marjorie and her
brother John. She was preceded in death by her
husband, Roger Lee Stuart, on August 30, 2019.
As her children, we heard her tell
many memories of growing up on the McCauley farm in
Clarion County and living in the converted one-room
schoolhouse. She spoke of those days as a magical
time. Later we realized there was also hardship then
but that’s not how she told it. Because of our
mother, our family history is so alive to us which
is a legacy we do not take lightly.
Our parents met in high school and were married for
63 years. Our mother charmed our father from the
start and all his life he loved her dearly.
She graduated from California University of PA with
a degree in elementary education. She taught us many
things but most of all how important it is to be a
lady. She believed in God and the power of prayer
which are lessons we never forgot.
Our mother took pride in her home, wherever that
home would be. She had many “collections” (as she
called them) and yet her house was always tidy and
tastefully decorated, inside and out. |
One place our mother loved to visit was the beach, both when we
all vacationed on Hilton Head Island, SC and later when our parents joined
Rachel’s family in Outer Banks, NC. Those were happy and funny times with
memories that we still enjoy telling and remembering with each other.
We all think it’s fitting that her
death coincides with the re-appearance of the
Christmas Star this year. She would have been
delighted by this omen and it suits her nature
perfectly.
“I opened
my eyes and the morning star
Glittering in the far depths of the sky
In a soft whiteness, infinite and lovely …
I heard a voice come from the star
Saying: I am the star that comes first
I am the one believed in the tomb, now empty.”
The Star by Victor
Hugo
Dear mom, every
Christmas we will all think of how you went to join
our father in this blaze of glory. We love you. Rest
in peace.
A memorial service will follow in New Bethlehem, PA
in the spring of 2021.
Holland Barry & Bennett Funeral Home is assisting
the family.
Click here to send a note of condolence to the
family of Shirley Joanne McCauley Stuart |
