The Eastwick Press Newspaper

Eastern Rensselaer County's Community Newspaper

Evelyn A. Shorter

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Petersburgh – Evelyn A. Shorter, 87, went to her eternal rest on Monday, August 1, 2011, at Bennington Health and Rehabilitation in Bennington, VT.
Born in Troy, NY, on March 30, 1924, Evelyn was the daughter of the late Willard MacDowell and Theodora Pratt. She graduated from Heatly High School in 1942 and then worked at Montgomery Ward in Menands, NY, as a billing clerk in the supply department. She was also a waitress at the Crooked Lake Hotel in West Sand Lake, NY.
Evelyn’s greatest love and joy was her family. She married her husband Bill on July 5, 1952, and was a dedicated wife, mother and grandmother for 59 years. She loved camping, especially the annual family camping trip she took every summer in the Adirondacks. Evelyn enjoyed the horses at Saratoga and loved to sing and dance. She often sang in local nightclubs and partnered with Billy Nassau at the Cat in the Fiddle Restaurant throughout the early part of her life.
Later on, Evelyn served as Chairperson for the Heart Fund in Petersburgh as well as President of both the Petersburgh Civic Council and the VFW Post Auxiliary in Wynantskill, NY. She was a communicant at St. Joseph’s Church in Stephentown, NY.
Evelyn was the loving wife of William Shorter Sr. and a devoted mother to Timothy Shorter, who pre-deceased her, Laurie Hodges and husband Phil, Kristine Gorman, William Shorter Jr., Matthew Shorter, Carolyn Tilden and Joel Shorter and wife Penni-Lyn. She is also survived by her grandchildren, Jay, Heather and husband Ryan, Shawn and wife Patty, Jason, Justin, Lydia, Christopher, Emma, Chad and Jeremiah as well as nine great-grandchildren. Evelyn is pre-deceased by her sister, Carolyn Griffith.
A Liturgy of Christian Death and Burial will be celebrated for Evelyn by Rev. Lee Smith on Friday, August 5, at 10 am in St. Joseph’s Church, Route 43 and Grange Hall Road, Stephentown. Interment will follow in St. Mary’s Cemetery in Troy.
Relatives and friends were invited for visitation at the Thomas M. Barber Funeral Home, 66 Armsby Road, Petersburgh, on Thursday from 4 to 7 pm.
Memorial contributions may be made in Evelyn’s memory to the Petersburgh Rescue Squad in care of the funeral home.