Shirley Pollitt, 93

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WAYLAND – Shirley Pollitt of Wayland Massachusetts died of natural causes at 93 years of age on April 6, 2020 at Miriam Boyd Parlin Hospice Residence in Wayland.

She is survived by her three children; Steve, Frances and Barbara, her five grandsons and her two great grandsons.

Shirley grew up in Warren and Allentown Pennsylvania with her parents Leonard and Aileen Crandall and her brother Edward (Barney).

She attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio earning a B.S. degree in Nutrition and Dietetics in 1948.

She met Irving Pollitt in that year and they were married the next, moving to Wilmington Delaware, then in 1953 to Indianola Mississippi and in 1959 to Wayland where she has lived ever since.

In 1960 she and Irv joined a small Episcopalian Mission group meeting in the Parmenter Health Center. Together they helped found and build the Church of the Holy Spirit on Rice Road in Wayland.

Shirley and her husband, Irving were staunch supporters of Sudbury Valley Trustees, and involved themselves at a grass roots level in the conservation movement. This value she held for land preservation has filtered down to her children and grandchildren.

Shirley was well known for her personal warmth and inexhaustible sense of humor. For decades she served the Town of Wayland as a poll worker. She had an outstanding ability for writing annual reports, organizing teams, and working tirelessly in her volunteer roles with The League of Women Voters, The Golden Tones and The Wayland Historical Society, as well as other organizations.

Shirley had always dreamed of teaching, so with her children grown she enrolled at Regis College earning a Masters and a teaching certificate for elementary school special needs children. She spent the rest of her working life as lead classroom teacher at Framingham’s Reed Academy and said she loved every minute of it.

Her family would like to express their deep and lasting gratitude to Ellie Mahoney who has been by Shirley’s side for these many years, and the health care workers of Traditions of Wayland, especially those in the memory care unit and those at Wayland’s Miriam Boyd Parlin Hospice Residence.

A memorial service will be held when we can all get together again.

In lieu of flowers please make a contribution to the Wayland Golden Tones Choir 41 Cochituate Rd.,Wayland, MA 01778 (www.goldentones.org).