Roberta Jean Shelledy Dorway

Roberta Jean Shelledy Dorway

Roberta "Bobbe" Jean Shelledy Dorway went to be with her Lord and "her Bill" early on January 21, 2011, culminating a life of service.
Bobbe was born on November 28, 1923 in Spokane, Washington and raised in Valley, Washington, where her parents, Floyd and Myrtle (Gray) Shelledy, owned the telephone company. Bobbe remembers that while growing up "everyone was a friend." Her mother was the chairwoman of the local Red Cross, and Bobbe also volunteered for the Red Cross, recently receiving her 65-year service pin.
Volunteering was a big part of Bobbe's life; she chaperoned school events, led Camp Fire groups, helped organize the Everett Youth Symphony and a girls' club in north Everett, and was active with Civic Music, the Sno-Isle Retired Teachers, PEO, and at her beloved "Beacon on the Hill" - First Presbyterian Church of Everett. Bobbe claimed that volunteering gave her life meaning.
Bobbe completed a degree in sociology at Washington State College, now WSU. She was then recruited to the University of Washington for a U.S. Army Cadet Nursing Corps program in 1945, fulfilling a dream of becoming a nurse. During her nursing career she worked at Harborview Hospital in Seattle, Washington, taught public health classes, helped organize the visiting nurses of Snohomish County, and became a school nurse at Cascade High School in Everett from 1970-1983.
While at WSC, Bobbe met one of the men who were brought to campus for Army specialized training. Bill Dorway became a good friend before being shipped overseas. They corresponded during the war and met again afterward. Married in 1947, they were blessed with 62 years of love until Bill died last February.
Bobbe is survived by her children, grandchildren and their spouses: daughter, Pamela Dorway-Worley and her husband, LC Worley III: daughter, Diane Dorway Mather and her husband, Scott Mather; and son, Roger Dorway and his wife, Jana Dorway. Bobbe's eight grandchildren were a joy to her: Andrew Worley, Greg Worley and his wife Melissa, Brian and Craig Mather, Whitney Dorway Randall, and her husband, Craig, Spencer, Riley and Hannah Dorway.
She was preceded in death by her husband, William Dorway; her sister, Marian Spillum; and her daughter-in-law, Kimberlee Hanby Dorway.
Bobbe's life will be celebrated on February 12th, 1:00 p.m., at First Presbyterian Church. Memorials honoring Bobbe may be donated to First Presbyterian Church, 2936 Rockefeller Avenue, Everett, Washington 98201.