Obituary of Shirley Walter

SHIRLEY MARTHA WALTER

Shirley Martha Walter was born to Albert and Martha Marks on September 14, 1929.  She grew up in their loving home with her siblings Claire, Linda, and John. God welcomed Shirley into His family through Holy Baptism at Zion Lutheran Church in Bridgeport, Connecticut on October 13, 1929, where she was later confirmed on June 13, 1943.

Richard Denninger Walter, her Zion Lutheran classmate and fellow confirmand, became her husband and lifelong partner on September 12, 1953.  Pastor Herman Wehmeyer, the same pastor who baptized and confirmed her, presided at the service.  The pair raised seven children together: Charles, James, Robert, Claire, Mark, Amy, and Paul.  The great love they showed to their children extended also to their daughters and sons-in-law, Cindy, Lynn, Vilia, Ed, Twyla, Phil, Kim, and Lauren, and to their twenty grandchildren and twenty-four great grandchildren.

The bedrock of Shirley’s life was her unwavering faith, and in her life of service surely heard the words of God, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”  She was the first woman from New England to complete the Lutheran Deaconess program, having double-majored in education and religion at Valparaiso University.  After graduation, she worked at the Lutheran School for the Deaf in Mill Neck, Long Island as a special education teacher, while commuting to Manhattan in the evenings to take graduate classes at Columbia University. 

Her education and service continued through the Connecticut Cooperative Extension program, with courses in gourmet cooking, tailoring, upholstery, furniture refinishing, and quilting. She then taught sewing and tailoring classes through the Extension, and taught quilting to friends and relatives in her home.

Shirley served God in various churches as a Sunday School teacher, Sunday School superintendent, Vacation Bible School director, and Chairman of the Board of Education, and also in the community as a census worker and a hospice volunteer.

Shirley Martha joined the Martha from biblical times in trusting Jesus when He said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.” On August 16, the day of her mother Martha’s birth, she joined her parents, her sister Claire, her son Robert, and her great-granddaughter Zoe in their heavenly home.

Memorial donations may be given to the Joint Seminary Fund of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (1333 S. Kirkwood Rd. St. Louis, MO 63122) or to Immanuel Lutheran Church (18 Clapboard Ridge Rd., Danbury, CT 06811).

A funeral service will be held on Saturday, August 26 at 10:00 AM at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Danbury.  Calling hours begin at 8:30 AM.  Those desiring to view the service via live-stream may do so by clicking on this link: Shirley's funeral service