Shirley Marie Eichelberger

1950 - 2019

Shirley Marie Eichelberger
April 3, 1950 - December 5, 2019
Shirley M. Eichelberger, 69, passed away on December 5, 2019 in Springfield, Oregon at Gateway Living, an assisted living memory care facility. Shirley was born in Boise, Idaho on April 3, 1950, the middle child of Frank and Lois Eichelberger.
Shirley graduated from Boise High School in 1968. She later graduated from Whitman College with a teaching certificate, a fact that she was very proud of because as she liked to say, "It was an extremely good college for intelligent people." This was one fact that she remembered almost to the end.
Shirley liked words, especially unusual ones. She kept a very large dictionary on a wooden pedestal for most of her adult life so she could easily find and understand new words.
Shirley excelled at typing and could accurately type 90 words per minute. At one time she worked as a legal secretary. Shirley also moved to Valdez, Alaska to work during the construction of the Trans Alaska Pipeline, where she became very ill and returned to Boise to live with her sister's family for 9 months while she recuperated. After she regained her health, she then explored the possibility of living in Oregon and settled into the rural area of Fall Creek, where she lived in the woodlands, meadows and mountains that she loved.
Many thanks to her good friend, Steve Paschall, who watched over Shirley's needs for several years, and gratitude to the loving and compassionate staff at Gateway Living for their care for her the last two years.
Shirley was preceded in death by her brother, Ken, and her parents. She is survived by her sister Wanda Barnett (Vern) and nieces and nephews.
A private graveside was held.