Shelby Palmer Guazzo

Shelby Palmer Guazzo, 84, of Chaptico, MD, passed away peacefully, Monday, November 24, 2025, at St. Mary's Hospice, in Callaway, MD, with her sons John and Dante Guazzo, and her daughter Shelby Smith Guazzo (David Mattis) with her.

Shelby was born on Governor's Island, NY, on June 7, 1941, to the late Lt. Shelby Y. Palmer, Jr, and Jean Hamilton (Smith) Palmer. She grew up in Summit, New Jersey, and graduated from Kent Place High School in 1959. After high school she took courses at the Eastern School for Physicians Aides as well as Upsala College, in New Jersey, where she met her future husband Dr. Eugene Guazzo. She and Dr. Guazzo moved and lived in North Carolina where he attended Duke Medical School and she took courses at the Duke School of Nursing. Shelby and Eugene were married in Durham, NC, on October 21, 1961. They moved to Boston for several years and eventually settled in St. Mary's County in 1968.

Shelby was a member of the Society of Clinical Pathologists and a licensed and active laboratory and radiology technician at her and Dr. Guazzo's family practice, The Maryland Infirmary, in Chaptico, MD. They opened the practice together in 1974. She established the clinical laboratory there and she was the office manager until his retirement in 2009.

During those years and beyond Shelby was active in numerous professional, political, and social organizations. She was a Judge of Elections from 1984 to 1995, a member of the Maryland Farm Bureau, the De La Brooke Foxhounds W., the St. Mary's River Yacht Club, and the St. Mary's County Historical Society. She was also a descendant of a signer to the Mayflower Compact, and a 36-year member of the Major William Thomas chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and many, many other groups. She was appointed to the Maryland State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners for two, five-year terms, and served for many years on the St. Mary's County Planning Commission. She also served on the Maryland State Board of Citizen Planners, the Maryland State Patuxent River Commission, and was a representative to the Maryland Association of Counties. In 1998, she was elected as a St. Mary's County Commissioner, representing the Third Commissioner District.

In the years after being in the medical and political arenas, Shelby enjoyed traveling to visit her children and grandchildren. She also spent many hours assisting friends and neighbors with the St. Mary's County planning and land use regulations. She continued to be fiercely independent living alone on part of Willow Glen Farm, which she and Dr. Guazzo purchased in 1972. Her favorite pastime was playing cards and other games with friends and neighbors. She especially enjoyed and looked forward to her bi-weekly pitch games on Wednesdays with the "Pitch Ladies" at each other's homes around the County.

Shelby is survived by her children, Eugene Tai Guazzo (Cheri), John Palmer Guazzo (Caroline), Dante Edward Guazzo, II (Emine ErSelcuk), and Shelby Smith Guazzo (David Mattis), as well as her grandchildren, Samantha Lefevre and Juliette Daniele Guazzo, Leyla Grace and Indigo Rose Guazzo, Dorian John Mattis and Mila Shelby Mattis.

She was preceded in death by her husband Eugene who passed in 2018 after 56 years of marriage, and her parents, Shelby and Jean Palmer.

Family will receive friends on Thursday, December 4, 2025, from 4:00 pm until 6:00 pm at Brinsfield Funeral Home, P.A., 22955 Hollywood Road, Leonardtown, MD 20650. A funeral service will be celebrated by Father Peter Ackerman on Friday, December 5, 2025, at 11:00 a.m., at Christ Episcopal Church, 25390 Maddox Road, Chaptico, MD 20621. Interment will follow in the Church cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made in Shelby's name to MedStar Hospice of St. Mary's, P.O. Box 625 Leonardtown, MD 20650 or to the Daughters of the American Revolution (the DAR), https://www.dar.org/support-dar/giving-opportunities/donate-online

Condolences may be left for the family at www.brinsfieldsfuneral.com.

Arrangements by the Brinsfield Funeral Home, P.A., Leonardtown, MD.