Sister Shirley was one of a kind. The best kind.
She never fit the stereotype of a religious sister that I had formed in elementary school
She was my mother’s cousin and I called her my cuzzin.
She was so generous with her time and energy
In my mom’s last years Shirley would come by every couple of weeks to spend time sharing stories of their childhood

She valued family she knew the birthdate, names of spouses, marriage date for every one of her nieces & nephews as well as their children & grandchildren.
It was a delight spending hours with her helping construct the genealogy of her mother’s family (Reaume). The time was always interspersed with stories of my mom & her sister.
I will miss her.

My mother, Cori Del Fuoco, worked with Shirley at Lakeshore Legal Services for many, many years. I, as well, worked there for a summer when I was a teenager and worked with Shirley. Since my mother passed away in 2020, I have not been in touch with Shirley since that time but I thought of her often and wondered how she was doing. I was not aware that she had passed in July. While my mother worked with Shirley, my Dad became very sick and Shirley was a true friend, not only to my Mom but also to me and my sisters, and was very supportive during the time that my dad was ill, and he eventually passed away. I've always thought of her fondly and will, for the rest of my life, until I see her again one day.

I met Sister Shirley through my outreach with the St. Vincent de Paul Society at my Parish. She had such compassion for the people she met. She was such a joy to know and an inspiration to me. I was also a legal secretary at the time and she tried to recruit me away from the Firm I was working for. But I never accepted the position to work with her. We chatted often after that, and I am happy to say I was able to introduce her to the Celtic music of John McDermott. We attended one of his concerts together in Port Huron. Additionally,, her sister, Sister Virginia was my French teacher at Dominican High !
Rest Peacefully my friend. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers along the way.

I will miss our shared walks and lunches filled with laughter and memories. Be blessed my dear and always hopeful friend. Blessings galore!

I was a student of Sr Blanche (as she was then) in Tokyo in 1972. She got me thinking, deeply, and as importantly believing that I could think and reflect deeply. This has been an enormous gift. It shaped the scholar I was to become and my commitment to the equality of all human beings and acting out these values. When we reconnected with her several years ago she sent me copies of the novels she set us in 1972 - Graham Green’s The Power and the Glory and Shisako Endo’s Silence. I did not hear from her again after the pandemic. Even so she continued to speak to me. Thank you sr Shirley Cushing for such an amazing legacy.