Constance Shillingburg

Contance (Connie) Joanne Shillingburg, a longtime teacher in the Oklahoma City/Edmond area, died June 28, 2008, in Houston, Texas from complications following surgery at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. She was born in Las Vegas, NM on May 10, 1938 to Grace Guffey and John B. Murphy who preceded her in death. She is survived by her husband of 48 years, Herb, and three daughters, Lisa Shillingburg, Leslie Jones, Lara Smith and her husband Allen, all of Edmond. She is also survived by three beloved grandsons, Griffin Jones, Elijah and Caden Smith her brother, Michael Murphy and wife, Toni of Moodys, Okla. two nephews, Brian Murphy of Watkinsville, GA and Brandon Murphy of Dallas, Texas a niece, Shauna Lemons of Frisco, Texas and a cousin, Camille Bohannon of Montgomery Village, MD. Connie retired from Edmond Memorial High School in 2000. Previously, she had taught for 12 years at Hefner Junior High School, where she was Teacher of the Year in 1990, South Oklahoma City Community College, and at high schools in southern California and Albuquerque, NM. She graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. from the University of New Mexico, where she belonged to Kappa Alpha Theta, Phi Alpha Theta history honorary, Theta Sigma Phi women in communications fraternity, Mortar Board, and Phi Kappa Phi national honorary. She later received an M.Ed. summa cum laude from the University of Central Oklahoma. For many years, she taught U.S. History to eighth graders. To make history more interesting, she persuaded her principal to pay for re-enactors who portrayed Civil War soldiers and a couple from the early West. The students loved it, and it inspired her to dress up as a pilgrim herself. When she began teaching high school, she brought in people who portrayed Henry Ford, Senator Joe McCarthy, and Eleanor Roosevelt. She added a Puritan poet, Anne Bradstreet, and an Italian Renaissance lady, both of whom she herself portrayed. After she officially retired from her first career as a teacher of history, she embarked on a second career as an historic character interpreter. She portrayed Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Victoria, Czarina Alexandra Romanov, and Lydie Marland of Oklahoma. She performed for numerous schools and groups in Oklahoma, Texas, and Florida, including several appearances before the English Speaking Union. Connie identified with the characters that she portrayed and admitted to a special fondness for Elizabeth, who was complex, successful and yet alone, in a fascinating period of history. She was a voracious reader, and her research was exhaustive. She knew her subjects in depth. When she put on her costume and wig, she was that person. She loved to travel and had visited 26 countries with her husband, including Australia, Japan, China, the British Isles, France, Italy, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Russia, India, and six countries in South America. They were ususally hosted by residents of those countries. Their last trip out of the U.S. was to Egypt, accompanied by Dr. Mostafa El-Sherif and his wife, Dr. Carolyn Cottrell. Connie was captivated by its rich history and incredible sights. As much as she loved the great cities of the world - London, Paris, Rome, Venice, Tokyo, Melbourne, and New York - her favorite spots were the Hawaiian Islands and her birthplace, the mountains of northern New Mexico. She loved open, questioning minds of all ages and was fascinated by music and artistic talent. In spite of her many talents and considerable intelligence, she considered her family and numerous friends to be her greatest treasures. She was a remakable lady. Truly, anyone who knew her, loved her and was inspired by her. She accomplished all that she did despite rheumatic heart disease dating from her 13th year, three heart surgeries and a previous, unrelated cancer surgery 16 years ago. She will be missed terribly. A memorial service will be held on Tuesday, July 8, at 2 p.m. at Saint Mary's Episcopal Church, 325 East 1st Street, in Edmond, the Reverend Mark Story officiating. The family asks, in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be made to: Free to Live, P.O. Box 5884, Edmond, OK 73083 www.freetoliveok.com in honor of Connie's love for her dogs.