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Obituary : Shirley Liljegren |
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 Shirley Mae Liljegren
Resident of Los Altos
August 21, 1924-June 30, 2010
Shirley Swanson was born in Evanston, Illinois, the second of three children of Oscar Swanson & Esther Ericson. She graduated from Evanston High School in 1942 where she operated the school store. While attending the youth group at Emmanuel Methodist Church in Evanston she caught the eye of B-25 Captain Robert V. Liljegren. They engaged during the mid-point of his 1941-1945 Air Force career & married on February 11, 1950.
Shirley & Bob moved to a third floor walk-up apartment near Northwestern University, awaiting their first son. Bob became a pilot with United Airlines, based in Chicago, soon after completing Air Force duties in North Africa & Asia. He convinced Shirley to visit San Francisco en route to Honolulu, Hawaii on their honeymoon. Inspired to change they uprooted for a ranch-style home on Benvenue Avenue in Los Altos in 1951.
Shirley & Bob became early members of the Los Altos United Methodist Church which continued to be a focal point throughout her life. Over decades she contributed significant volunteer hours to church functions & outreach programs.
Shirley had three more sons. In 1959 they built a larger home on Black Mountain Court in Los Altos, land formerly used as an apricot & almond orchard. From this home she organized neighborhood social gatherings & planned family vacations. She traveled through the Inward Channel to Alaska; Israel, Egypt, Europe, Russia; to Williamsburg & other destinations representing North America's historic past. Locally, she was drawn to Carmel, the Shakespeare Festivals in Ashland, Oregon, Yosemite & the Scandinavian town of Solvang. She was an excellent cook & devotee of Julia Child, also passionate about knitting, needlework, gardening, designing Halloween costumes & making handmade toys.
Shirley leaves behind Bob, her husband of 60 years; sons - Peter, Mark, Todd & Doug; daughter-in-law, Lisbeth; granddaughters Sonja & Chloe; & her brother Lane who lives in Evanston, Illinois. Her older sister Arlene passed in 1992. As a loving wife, mother, grandmother, sister & friend, she will be missed beyond measure but her memory lives within all of us.
Her Memorial Service is on Monday, July 12 at 2:00 p.m. at the Los Altos United Methodist Church, 655 Magdalene Avenue.
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