HARRISON — Shirley Libby Davis, 99, died at home on Friday, May 20, 2022, surrounded by her loving family.

She was born on February 28, 1923 in Westbrook, to Merle and Effie Libby. She attended grade school and most of high school in Westbrook, but she spent her last year of high school at Buxton High School, graduating in 1942. She was always interested in fashion and art and wanted to go to New York City (the fashion capital of the world) for college after high school. It was during the war, however, and her parents were nervous about letting her go so far away. So, she attended the Portland School of Art for a year. Her parents finally relented, and they let her enroll at Pratt Institute in NYC, where she obtained her degree in Fashion Design. She then worked at several jobs in New York and Boston but decided, after a few years, that she wanted to return to Maine. She was working in Portland in the year 1948 during which she was introduced to her sister-in-law’s cousin, Richard Davis, from Harrison. There was an instantaneous attraction, and they were married on October 1, 1949.

Dick and Shirley spent the first two years of their married life living in special housing for WWII married ex-servicemen at the University of Maine at Orono, where Dick was finishing up his engineering degree. Upon graduation, he was offered a job in upstate New York with Alcoa. The move was the first of many during Dick’s engineering career. They spent the last 20 years of Dick’s career in Middleburgh, N.Y. Whether they lived in a place for two years or twenty, Shirley bloomed where she was planted (as the saying goes).

She put her art career on the back burner while she concentrated on raising her family of four children. She involved herself in her children’s activities and spent most of her life volunteering with civic organizations — the Girl Scouts, League of Women Voters, 20th Century Club, and the Harrison Planning Board, to name just a few. Her faith was extremely important to her, and she was always heavily involved with her church. It was evident to all who knew and loved her that she had a huge empathetic heart and always put others needs above her own.

In her later years, she was able to devote more time to her passion of painting watercolors. She was a very gifted artist, winning several blue ribbons at various juried exhibitions. Although she recently had to give up painting and many of the things she loved due to her poor eyesight and other physical limitations, she faced each chal- lenge with grace and dignity. Age was always a number to her and she was doing chair yoga up until age 98.

Shirley was predeceased by her husband of 66 years, Richard H. Davis, her parents, and two of her siblings: Arthur Benjamin “Ben” Libby, and Esther Surber.

She is survived by her brother Merle Howard Libby (wife Dottie) of Buxton; her daughter Katherine Cornell (husband Brian Cornell) of Hudson, N.H.; her sons: Averill Davis (wife Christine) of Harrison, Daniel Davis (wife Wendy) of North Platte, Neb., and Randolph Davis (wife Beth) of South Glens Falls, N.Y.; nine grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

A Celebration of Life service will be held outside at the Greenwood Manor Inn in Harrison (52 Tolman Road), on June 18, at 11 a.m., with a reception immediately following.

In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to the United Parish Congregational Church of Harrison, P.O. Box 95, Harrison ME 04040, or to Doctors Without Borders USA, P.O. Box 5030, Hagerstown, MD 21741-5030.

Arrangements are in the care of Hall Funeral Home, 165 Quaker Ridge Road in Casco. Condolences and tributes may be shared at www. hallfuneralhome.net.