Hazel Marie Shorter

Dec. 13, 1921 - May 15, 2007

A resident of the Fairfield/Vacaville area since 1964, Hazel quietly passed away on May 15, 2007, in Vacaville.

Hazel was a dedicated employee of Explosive Technology in Suisun from the late 60s until her retirement in 1988. She spent her life during and after marriage, devoted to the needs of her children not herself. She will forever be remembered by us for her hard work ethic and her extreme devotion to lovingly raising all of her children despite the adversities that she faced throughout her life. It will forever ring in our ears the values she gave us through her words and her actions, "Have faith;" "Live each day to the fullest;" "If you can't say something nice about someone, don't say it at all;" "Do what you can to help other people," are just a few that come to mind. We never heard her speak unkindly of another individual. She never put anything before us, and we never felt lacking for anything. Her kind, enthusiastic, positive nature was contagious to both her family and her co-workers.

Her one personal joy in life came from the many baked goods she made for all of her friends and family on all of their special occasions. It was routine for us to hear her up at 5 a.m., baking something in the kitchen to have ready for one of her many friends, before she left for work at 6:30 a.m. Not a child in our Fairfield neighborhood will forget her famous homemade popcorn balls. They were handed out each Halloween, back in a time when you could do such a thing. Many kids would continue coming by for this special treat well into adulthood.

She was a faithful member of the United Methodist Church in Fairfield until later in life.

She was a devoted mother of four children, Beverly Baker of Richmond, Va., Sharon Erck of Vacaville, Kirk Shorter of Sacramento, and Kimberly Strachan of Reno, Nev. She was a loving grandmother to nine children.

Mother, you will forever be missed, admired, remembered, but most of all, loved. May you rest in peace.

Services will be performed at 1 p.m. Monday at Vaca Hills Chapel, 524 Elmira Road, Vacaville. A reception will follow the service at Valley Church, 5063 Maple Road, Vacaville. Interment will be for immediate family only.