Shirley J. Warner, 82

July 31, 2023

Shirley J. Warner, 82, of Dillsburg, passed away on July 31, 2023, after a short illness. She was born to the late George Kauffman and Margaret Coleman, February 2, 1941, in Mifflintown, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Chief Logan High School in 1959.

She married the late Gordon E. Warner in 1959. While Gordon was pursuing a teaching degree from Penn State University, they lived in the State College area for several years. During those years Shirley was a mother and a housewife taking care of the first two of their four children. Upon Gordon graduating from Penn State they then moved to Littlestown, Pennsylvania where Gordon began his teaching career. During their time in Littlestown, they had two more children, Shirley also partnered with her husband to run a western wear and horse-riding equipment store on a part-time basis.

In the late 1960’s Gordon and Shirley divorced. Shirley would go on to raise her four children as a single mother. She would eventually get a job as a bank teller which provided her with an income to help her take care of her family. Later in her working life she would get a job as an admissions clerk at Hershey Medical Center (HMC). For the rest of her life, she was proud to have worked at HMC and to have been a part of the Penn State family.

Shirley always recognized that the helping hand of good people such as neighbors, colleagues at work, family, and other good Samaritans in the community helped her to stay on her feet and survive in a sometimes-difficult world. In 1972 she would be able to buy a house and a small plot of land at the foot of South Mountain upon which she would raise all her children to adulthood. Until her dying day she would think of that house as her home. Shirley never met a stranger. She helped others as others had helped her. Her door was always open to those in need. She loved gardening, cats and dogs, and a bowl of ice cream at the end of the day. She was as big a fan of Penn State football as they come. She loved to travel and was not afraid to make long trips in a car full of kids.

Shirley is preceded in death by her son Chris Warner and her granddaughter Leigha Holland Voigt. She is survived by her other three children: Scott Warner (married to Toni) of Strasburg, Pennsylvania; Craig Warner of Tennessee Colony, Texas; and Susan Blackcloud of Dillsburg, Pennsylvania. She is also survived by nine grandchildren and six great grandchildren.

There will be a Celebration of Life ceremony on Saturday, August 19, 2023, at 11:00 A.M. The celebration will take place at the Wesley United Methodist Church at 40 West Main Street in Strasburg, Pennsylvania. The ceremony will be in the Epworth Room of the church. Attendees for the celebration are asked to bring a story about Shirley to share. At a future date, Shirley’s ashes will be interred next to her parents at the Juniata Memorial Park in Lewistown, Pennsylvania. The family request that instead of flowers people should make a donation to Yorkview Nursing and Rehabilitation in York, Pennsylvania.