Obituary for Shirley Cecelia Castro
Shirley Cecelia Castro
March 13, 1945 – December 21, 2022
Shirley passed away at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, CA, on December 21, 2022 after years of contending with a variety of illnesses and then recently contracting the Covid-19 and Respiratory Syncytial Viruses.
Born in Burbank, California, on March 13, 1945, she was the youngest child of Barton Charles Pace and Marguerite (née Bischoff) Pace, and baby sister to her beloved siblings, Charles and Marguerite. She spent her childhood in Southern California, living in the cities of Woodland Hills, Canoga Park, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Ojai, and Ventura. She graduated from Nordoff High School in Ojai before advancing to Ventura Junior College.
Always one to look excitedly toward the next adventure and challenge, Shirley moved north to attend Fresno State College, where she majored in sociology and also met her future husband, Ron, whom she married on June 18, 1965.
With degree in hand, Shirley relocated with Ron to Pleasanton, CA, to start her career and, in 1968, a family of her own with the birth of her first son. A year later she again moved, this time to Bakersfield, the city where her husband’s family had settled a century earlier and where Shirley would spend the next five decades building a remarkable life.
In 1969, she joined the teaching staff at Beardsley School District, which was the beginning of her 30-year professional career as an educator. With the exception of a few years in the early 1980’s running the much-lauded preschool that she founded, Shirley’s tenure at Beardsley lasted until her retirement. Her passion for the art and craft of teaching was unparalleled and proved to be a source of inspiration to both her students and colleagues, alike.
The 70’s and 80’s were significant decades in Shirley’s life. She moved into the house on Hooper Avenue that would become the hub of countless gatherings of family and friends for years to come. She earned her master’s degree in early childhood education while continuing to teach full-time. And in 1976 and 1981, she gave birth to her second and third sons.
Shirley was never one to live idly. Upon retiring, she began volunteering at the California Living Museum in Kern County and later at the Santa Barbara Sea Center, educating herself and visitors about local wildlife. She learned the art of Tai Chi, which she practiced regularly in classes and on her own. She also pursued her dream of becoming an author by writing and self-publishing a series of children’s books, an accomplishment that provided her with years of fulfillment. And whenever she could, she would embark upon trips to one interesting place after another, including a recent cross-country journey by train with her sister to her mother’s birthplace of Charleston, S.C., where she was able to visit houses once owned by her ancestors centuries ago.
During the 77 years that she spent in this world, Shirley filled every single day with purpose, optimism, and love. She possessed the unique and enviable ability to find beauty and joy in so many aspects of daily life. She found rejuvenation in the nature around her, often saying that it was her church—two especially profound sources of inspiration for her being Yosemite National Park and the beaches of California. But as powerful a force as nature was for her, the people in her life mattered the most to her above all else, and she was, in turn, earnestly liked, respected, and loved by her family and friends. Her death has left an immeasurable void for the many who will miss her, but her life has filled us with happiness, compassion, wisdom, and love.
Shirley is survived by her brother Charles Pace and sister-in-law, Meri; sister Marguerite Palmbach; son, Richard Castro and his partner, Patricia Kinkead; son, Christopher Castro, daughter-in-law, Allisa Giannini, and grandson, Jackson Castro; son, Joshua Castro; cousins, nieces, nephews, friends . . . and all of the children who learned from her the joy of reading.
March 13, 1945 – December 21, 2022
Shirley passed away at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, CA, on December 21, 2022 after years of contending with a variety of illnesses and then recently contracting the Covid-19 and Respiratory Syncytial Viruses.
Born in Burbank, California, on March 13, 1945, she was the youngest child of Barton Charles Pace and Marguerite (née Bischoff) Pace, and baby sister to her beloved siblings, Charles and Marguerite. She spent her childhood in Southern California, living in the cities of Woodland Hills, Canoga Park, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Ojai, and Ventura. She graduated from Nordoff High School in Ojai before advancing to Ventura Junior College.
Always one to look excitedly toward the next adventure and challenge, Shirley moved north to attend Fresno State College, where she majored in sociology and also met her future husband, Ron, whom she married on June 18, 1965.
With degree in hand, Shirley relocated with Ron to Pleasanton, CA, to start her career and, in 1968, a family of her own with the birth of her first son. A year later she again moved, this time to Bakersfield, the city where her husband’s family had settled a century earlier and where Shirley would spend the next five decades building a remarkable life.
In 1969, she joined the teaching staff at Beardsley School District, which was the beginning of her 30-year professional career as an educator. With the exception of a few years in the early 1980’s running the much-lauded preschool that she founded, Shirley’s tenure at Beardsley lasted until her retirement. Her passion for the art and craft of teaching was unparalleled and proved to be a source of inspiration to both her students and colleagues, alike.
The 70’s and 80’s were significant decades in Shirley’s life. She moved into the house on Hooper Avenue that would become the hub of countless gatherings of family and friends for years to come. She earned her master’s degree in early childhood education while continuing to teach full-time. And in 1976 and 1981, she gave birth to her second and third sons.
Shirley was never one to live idly. Upon retiring, she began volunteering at the California Living Museum in Kern County and later at the Santa Barbara Sea Center, educating herself and visitors about local wildlife. She learned the art of Tai Chi, which she practiced regularly in classes and on her own. She also pursued her dream of becoming an author by writing and self-publishing a series of children’s books, an accomplishment that provided her with years of fulfillment. And whenever she could, she would embark upon trips to one interesting place after another, including a recent cross-country journey by train with her sister to her mother’s birthplace of Charleston, S.C., where she was able to visit houses once owned by her ancestors centuries ago.
During the 77 years that she spent in this world, Shirley filled every single day with purpose, optimism, and love. She possessed the unique and enviable ability to find beauty and joy in so many aspects of daily life. She found rejuvenation in the nature around her, often saying that it was her church—two especially profound sources of inspiration for her being Yosemite National Park and the beaches of California. But as powerful a force as nature was for her, the people in her life mattered the most to her above all else, and she was, in turn, earnestly liked, respected, and loved by her family and friends. Her death has left an immeasurable void for the many who will miss her, but her life has filled us with happiness, compassion, wisdom, and love.
Shirley is survived by her brother Charles Pace and sister-in-law, Meri; sister Marguerite Palmbach; son, Richard Castro and his partner, Patricia Kinkead; son, Christopher Castro, daughter-in-law, Allisa Giannini, and grandson, Jackson Castro; son, Joshua Castro; cousins, nieces, nephews, friends . . . and all of the children who learned from her the joy of reading.