Shirlee C. Neil

Southbury-

Shirlee C. Neil peacefully passed away in her home in Southbury CT. on Saturday, September 9th, after a long struggle with Lewy Body dementia.  

Shirlee was born in 1943 in Long Branch, New Jersey where her father had been posted to the Signal Corps for the duration of WWII. At the end of the war, the family moved back to Marlboro, Massachusetts where he used his wartime knowledge to found a company dedicated to designing and manufacturing electronic crystals used in various radio systems. While in secondary school in Marlboro, Shirlee studied classical ballet and spent one summer dancing at Jacobs Pillow in the Berkshires.

After graduation, she attended Colby College where she majored in French with a minor in Russian. It was at Colby that she met her future husband who she married shortly after graduation in 1965. That fall, Shirlee entered the Department of Slavic languages at NYU where she earned a masters in Russian language and literature.

Soon thereafter Shirlee and her husband Bill had two children and settled in Westchester County NY. While Bill worked in the city, Shirlee raised Robin and Timothy while doing part time work translating Russian literature for a division of Harcourt-Brace-Jovanovich.  

As her children entered their teenage years, Shirlee joined and became very active in the LDS (Morman) church.  Her growing faith prompted an epiphany;  her true calling was to help others through the practice of medicine.  Following this calling, she entered Pace University and received her second master’s degree, becoming a Nurse Practitioner. In this capacity she worked for Kaiser-Permanente in White Plans NY, then partnered with one of her teachers to provide medical care to homeless in Stamford, CT. Finally, she ended her practice at Liberation House, also in Stamford, serving the needs of their drug addicted and alcohol dependent population. She was still working in Stamford when she and Bill relocated to Southbury CT. in 1999. A few years later, she retired early in order to care for her mother who had developed Alzheimer’s dementia.

Shirlee was proceeded in death by her parents, Earle and Helen Clark and her brother Steven Clark  and is survived by her husband of 58 years , Bill Neil, two children, Robin Schafer and Timothy Neil, her sister Susan Stern, three grandchildren Maddy Tollefson, Hazel and Willow Neil,  and one great grandchild, Lara Tollefson.

A memorial service will take place at the Church of Latter-Day Saints 1021 Roxbury Road Southbury, CT at 3:30 pm on Thursday, September 14th, 2023. Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to the Lewy Body Dementia Association (LDBA.org) or the Alzheimer’s Disease Association through their web sites.

To leave an online condolence please visit www.munsonloveterefuneralhome.com.

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