Shirley Ellen Davis

On Saturday, September 12, 2020, a proud New Zealander, and a grateful resident of United States for more than 50 years, Shirley Ellen Davis (nee Findlater) passed away at home attended by her family.  Shirley had been diagnosed only three months before with advanced metastatic cancer and without hesitation made her decision to stay at home until the end.  She and her husband had been Buckley residents since 1995. She was 75 years old. Daughter of Mavis Ellen Findlater (nee Fiveash) and Albert Walter Findlater, Shirley was directly descended from those tough, pioneering Scots who sailed halfway around the world to establish a planned community in the wilderness of New Zealand's South Island. At the end of WWII, Shirley's father died three weeks before Shirley was born.  He was one of the last New Zealand Army soldiers killed in Italy – a day before Axis forces surrendered there.  In 1955, when Shirley was ten years old, she lost her mother to cancer.  At that time, Shirley and her half-siblings were separated and didn’t see each other again until 1987. As the daughter of a fallen serviceman, Shirley was sponsored with a scholarship to attend St. Hilda's Collegiate School for Girls – a strict, “proper, British-style boarding school”.  After five years there, Shirley had learned the discipline and resolve to work her way through college and become a schoolteacher. Late in 1964, at a holiday party, Shirley met her husband, Bill.  He was stationed aboard a US Navy ship that was deployed in Deep freeze-Antarctic support and home-ported in Dunedin, New Zealand. They married 1966 and settled in California in 1968.  Working as an Executive Assistant, a Sales Administrator and, ultimately a small-business owner, Shirley managed to be home for her son during his early, formative years. Surprisingly tough and resilient, but always soft-spoken with her soft accent and infectious smile, Shirley was loved by those who knew her even briefly.

From a stepsister, “Shirley was a fun, bright light for sure.  I loved her honey-sweet voice, kind heart & words with a resolve of steel!” From her daughter-in-law, “Today our family lost a singular person. This classy, resilient, thoughtful, wonderful lady passed away this morning and our hearts will mourn for her.  Shirley raised and loved the man I love and for that I will always be grateful to her.”

Shirley is survived by her husband, Bill, their son Philip and two grandchildren.  In New Zealand, Shirley leaves behind a half-sister, Jenette, and half-brother, Steven.  Sadly, a third half-sibling, Mervyn, preceded Shirley in death by just three months.

Shirley's request was that donations in her memory be made to Wounded Warriors Project.

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