Robert and Shirley Goerlich

The lives of Robert Frank Goerlich and Shirley Boyce Goerlich were taken on Thursday, April 6, 2006, at their winter home in Port Orange, Fla.
Bob Goerlich was born March 4, 1936, in Newark, N.J., to Mary and Adolf Goerlich.
Bob grew up in Union, N.J. He left Union to pursue a Bachelor's degree at Wake Forest University. Following college, he joined the United States Army. Among his responsibilities in the Army, Bob served as Chief of Protocol in Fort Hamilton. In that capacity, he arranged and coordinated activities for visiting foreign dignitaries and ambassadors to the United Nations. Bob served his country in Vietnam, where he was awarded the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, and other commendations. He retired from the Army as a Lieutenant Colonel. After earning his master's degree from American University, Bob joined Singer Link in Kirkwood, where he worked in public communications. In 1988, he was appointed to the Southern Tier Regional Economic Development Council by then-Governor Mario Cuomo.
An avid golfer, he was an active member of the Sidney Golf and Country Club. He enjoyed community service activities and, above all, spending time with his grandchildren.
Shirley Goerlich was born Shirley Alice Boyce on May 17, 1937, to John and Nella Boyce. She grew up in Sidney. She earned a bachelor's degree from Cobleskill College, and pursued her master's degree at Parsons College in Iowa. Shirley was a public schoolteacher in Milwaukee, Wis., and Huntington, Long Island.
She is best-known as owner of RSG Publishing Company, a company she successfully operated for 22 years. Her many books include "At Rest in Unadilla," "Etched in Stone in Sidney," "Legends and Reality," "The Civil War Soldiers of Prospect Hill," and the award-winning "Genealogy: A Practical Research Guide," among others.
Shirley was an active member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the National Society of New England Women and the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War. She was a founding mother of the General John Patterson Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution memorialized in Whitney Point. She was a well-known and respected genealogist, local historian, author, and friend.
Bob and Shirley are survived by two sons, Robert John Goerlich of Cortland, and Daniel Lee Goerlich of Nathalie, Va.; four grandchildren, Robert Christopher, Danielle Marie, Jonathan Winfield, and Andrew Read. Shirley is survived by her sister, Beverly Pierce, of Sidney, and her brother, Jon W. Boyce, of Guilford. Bob is survived by his brother, Donald Goerlich, of Henrietta. The couple is also survived by many nieces, nephews, and cousins.
The family will receive visitors on Tuesday, April 18, from 3 to 5 and again from 6 until 8 p.m. at Westcott Funeral Home Inc., 123 Main St., Unadilla, (directly off Exit 10 of I-88).
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, April 19, at Sacred Heart Church, 15 Liberty St., Sidney, where Bob and Shirley were married on Aug. 19, 1967. They will be laid to rest in Evergreen Hill Cemetery in Unadilla following the Mass.
The family requests that memorial contributions be made to the charity of one's choice, in memory of Bob and Shirley Goerlich.
Funeral arrangements are by the Westcott Funeral Home Inc., 123 Main St., Unadilla, under the supervision of James S. Westcott and James C. Magee, funeral directors.