Middletown, NY
Marie Shipman, a longtime resident of Middletown, NY was known as a nurse, educator, speech and language pathologist and round-dance cuer who gave generously of herself. She was a devoted wife and mother. Mrs. Shipman died peacefully, Wednesday, August 20, 2008, at her home in Middletown, while napping after lunch. She was 89.
Born March 31, 1919 in New York City, the daughter of the late Anthony and Mary Norrito DeLucia.
Marie grew up in Bergenfield, NJ, graduated from the elite Dumont High School in Dumont, NJ where, while known for tap dancing, guitar and singing (including her own albums) and cheerleading, she developed a lifelong interest in education. In 1952, she came to Middletown, obtained an honors degree in nursing from Orange County Community College. Over the years, she worked as a nurse at Horton Hospital, Goshen Hospital, and at Hospitals in Poughkeepsie and Suffern. In addition to her nursing career, Marie parented her three children, was active in the PTA, volunteered at school as needed, was a Den mother and was also a 4-H leader for years. Neighborhood children were always welcome in her home. When her children were still young, she went back to school. She started her teaching career at the Albert Street School in Middletown and because of her students there, developed a passion for speech and language pathology. After completing her degree in elementary education at New Paltz, she continued her education at Will Paterson University in speech and language patholog. Marie Shipman created and authored the first directory of speech and language clinics in New York State. She showed her entrepreneurial skills too, opening a speech and language clinic where she was known for her exceptional work with, among others, aphasics, stutters, ADHD, and where she was a leader showing doctors, forty years ago, that students with Down's Syndrome could read. She loved teaching, learning and language, thus often quoted in the NAACP commercial, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste", and Emily Dickinson's poem, "A word is dead/When it is said,/Some say/I say it just/Begins to live/That day". Marie Shipman and her husband were avid dancers. Marie cued rounds and called squares. She was the editor of 'North East Square Dancer Magazine: News and Views of Square and Round Dancing' nine formerly, 'Hudson Valley Dancer' for eight years. Among her accomplishments, was a bronze medal for international ballroom dance. Marie met her husband roller skating at Bear Mountain and often skated in Paramus. She was a national judge for dance skating. She married Stanley Shipman in 1945 when he returned from military service in WWII. They have been devoted to each other since then and have had many happy times, including lunch together just before she died.
She is survived by her husband, Stanley; her daughters, Joan Beinetti of Honeoye Palls, NY and J.S. Shipman aka Jill Kaplan of Chestnut Hill, MA; son, Arthur Shipman of New Hampton and Westbrookville, NY: their families including spouses; three sister-in-laws; 12 grandchildren and seven great grandchildren; nieces and nephews.
A Memorial Mass will be offered at St. Joseph's Church, Cottage Street, Middletown at 11 a.m., Wednesday, August 27. People will gather after the mass in Montgomery, as announced at mass.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Smile Train, The Orange County Audobon Society, The Emily Dickinson Foundation, The Northeast Square Dancer, St. Joseph's School (Middletown, NY) Valley Central School (Montgomery, NY), Dumont High School (Dumont, NJ) Orange County Community College, SUNY New Paltz, William Paterson University, The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation or donor's choice.
This obituary was originally published in the Times Herald-Record.
