Edna Calderara Shire
Edna Calderara Shire, better known as “Caldy”, passed away December 12., 2018. Born in Weymouth, MA and educated in the North Abington schools, she was the wife of the Rev. David F. Shire.
She attended Calvin Coolidge College in Boston. She began her career at the Boston Nursery for Blind Babies and retired from Insight Vision Rehabilitation, previously known as The R I Association for the Blind. She served as a Board member of Tockwotton Home. She loved the Philharmonic, Trinity Rep, the Camp Street Food Pantry and local and international community service.
Following her retirement, she became a Docent at the Roger Williams Park Zoo, earning the Life Docent award for 20 years of volunteer service. She was a weekly volunteer at the Camp Street Food Pantry. In 1983 she was Commissioned to spent a sabbatical with her husband, David and daughter, Barbara, as a Partner in Mission at the Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India, where medical doctors and educators of the Congregational Church’s American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, established schools and hospitals in the 1860s. A second sabbatical took Caldy and David to the Christian Medical College and Hospital in Vellore, South India.
Following their marriage in 1961, she was an active member of the first Congregational Church UCC, West Boylston MA, the First Church of Ipswich UCC and, later, at Newman Church, UCC in East Providence, RI. Following retirement, she was a parishioner at the Providence Presbyterian Church.
Caldy was a humble person. She never spoke about her own accomplishments but she often praised those of her children!
Besides her husband she leaves two sons; Douglas Bourne Shire (Jody) of Ithaca, NY, Paul Thomas Shire of Providence and a daughter Barbara Dodge Fegley (Brent) of Emmaus, PA. She also leaves 4 grandchildren Karl and Megan Fegley, Logan Shire and Aurora Wold-Shire and a great granddaughter, Tabitha Fegley. She was the sister of Alice Dunham of Plymouth, MA and the late Ruth, Emma, Charles, Carlton, Albert; and leaves many loving nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will be held Saturday Dec. 15th at 11am in the Newman Congregational Church, 100 Newman Ave., Rumford. Donations in her memory may be made to the Lewy Body Dementia Association, 912 Killian Hill Rd. SW, Lilburn, GA 30047 ( http://www.lbda.org.)
