Shirley Anne Benedict

It is with heavy hearts, the family of Shirley Anne Benedict, age 65 years, announces her peaceful passing with her son and husband by her side on August 13, 2017. 

Shirley is survived by her husband of 41 years, Don Benedict; sons Jeff Benedict, (Deceased at birth - John Benedict); daughter Amanda (Joey) Farrell and two grandchildren Kamila and Charlotte. Her two dogs, Sierra and Shadow were just like family to her. 

Surviving are “Jennings Side” sisters Josie (Rheal) Pauquette, Gerald (Jackie) Jennings and Arline (Armand) Brideau. Deceased are Jack (Agnes) Jennings, Basil (Della) Jennings, Rita Jennings, Millie Williamson and Buleah (Regel) Delisle. Parents that brought Shirley up in life were Theresa and Joseph Jennings (Deceased). The Jennings family made their home in Webbwood, Ontario.

Surviving are “Rogers side” sisters Alice (Friend Del) Grenier, Edna Rogers Fogarty, June Love, Loretta and Donald Arnold (John), Ann Rogers, Eva Rogers. Deceased are step parents Clifford (Barbara – surviving) Rogers. The Rogers family, (that Shirley came to know recently) made their hometown in McKerrow, Ontario. Also recently deceased is sister Ellen Shannon Rogers.

Surviving are “Benedict side” brothers Ralph (Elizabeth) Benedict, and Dr. Rick (Brenda) Benedict. Deceased are her mom and dad, Edna P Benedict and Larry J Benedict – she loved them dearly. 

Shirley has many nieces and nephews which she tried to visit as much as she could through the years. Shirley was a very easy person to get to know and all families made her feel that she was part of their life. Somehow, Shirley was able to remember the names, birthdates and anniversaries of not only her family, but my family too. It was like a savant gift given to her that amazed everyone. She attended Webbwood School, Espanola High School and finally obtained her Registered Practical Nursing Diploma from the Elliot Lake Hospital School of Nursing. 

She has a close knit group of nurses that she went through the nursing school with keeping in touch with them until the day she died. Her friends are many, but to mention a few; Maureen (Albert) Rozon, Sandy (Jeff) Barclay, Pam Jensen, and Diane (Dave) Picco, were like sisters. Cristine Molenbroek helped Shirley out a great deal too. Shirley would say to many, “Well, you are family now!” 

Shirley had an extraordinary gift of compassion and communication with people. Don met Shirley at the General Hospital in Sault Ste. Marie when she was on the pediatric floor. They were married in the Sault on Feb 28, 1976 and in 1982 moved with their children to Thunder Bay, Ontario where we made our home. Shirley enjoyed camping with her family, she wasn’t too fond of boats as she never did learn to swim. But with a life jacket on, she still went out a lot in boats and canoes. 

Pam Jensen taught Shirley to watercolour painting and she made several nice pieces with her guidance. Her favourite TV show was the Young and Restless and she even got Don interested in the soap box show. Shirley dealt with Diabetes for years and that ended up affecting her kidneys, heart and blood vessels. She just started on renal dialysis and both she and Don were going to training classes daily last week. Then the unthinkable happened and she had a heart attack and died while right in Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre. 

Many thanks to the numerous doctors, nurses Firefighters and Paramedics that took care of Shirley through the years (and there were plenty). They were all so very kind to Shirley and it meant a lot to her and our family. We came to know the Renal Support Group at TBRHSC. Which helped us both out learning about renal dialysis and kidney disease. She went through countless medical tests to try and get a donated kidney, but never did get all the requirements completed. Each time we would go into the hospital for an emergency, there were many different technicians, food services, house-keeping staff that worked like a fine tuned clock, giving fast efficient service in their respective professions. Thank you, thank you, thank you all – very deeply appreciated by our family.

A Celebration Of Shirley's Life will be held at 1:00pm on Friday, August 18, 2017 in the North End Community Centre. 

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in Shirley’s memory to the Emergency Department of TBRHSC, The Kidney Foundation or The Canadian Diabetes Association.