EULOGY DELIVERED BY SHIRLEY’S SON, MIKE MANION (Abridged)

Shirley was born in North Sydney in 1931 to Charles and Marion Dare. Charles was a successful industrialist who enjoyed his golf. Mim, as we knew her, was an intelligent lady whose father had not let her go to university. This denial of what we see today as a natural right would be a major spur to Shirley through her life. Shirley also had an older sister, Valerie, to keep her on the straight and narrow. They went to school at Sydney Church of England Girls’ Grammar School. However after the midget submarine attack on Sydney they moved to Abottsleigh, Wahroonga, to be further away from the harbour and potential danger.

Shirley gained a BA from Sydney University, majoring in English and music. She remembered feeling very sophisticated on going to her first lecture and hearing the lecturer say, “ladies and gentlemen, you are permitted to smoke here.” She was also involved in the University Choir, as one of that select breed of Altos, who considered themselves special due to their small number compared with the sopranos. This gave them a good connection with the tenors from the men's side and many happy memories. Despite these distractions Shirley finished her studies in the allotted time and gained what had been denied her mother, a university degree. Whether she knew it or not at the time, she had become a Woman Graduate.

She spent a short while working at the ABC and enjoying the Sydney social life and then set sail for England. There she was part of history, teaching Maths in the East End, still devastated by the blitz of 1940. Her fondest memory was of the coronation of Elizabeth. She waited up all night at a lamp post for her view of the royal procession. She even managed to be interviewed for the BBC World Service, expressing the interest of the antipodeans in the event. She left England to return home but stopped off at Singapore on the way to see a friend from Sydney. One thing led to another and before she knew it Shirley had to make a decision, go back to Sydney or get married. So on 22 December 1954 she married James Manion, an accountant employed by the Singapore glass works. After a year in the tropics, Shirley and James moved back to Sydney where they built a house at Cheltenham, on the then urban fringe and had three sons.

Shirley had a strong sense of justice, she had purpose and she knew she had a duty to participate, rather than comment from the sidelines. She chose “committee” as the means of expressing this. For the next 40 years she would be engaged in supporting a wide range of organisations through committees. The list includes Beecroft Public School, NSW Infant Schools Parents Association, the mighty Women Graduates (AFUW-NSW), which would be a passion of hers for life, First Beecroft Scouts, Beecroft-Cheltenham Civic Trust and lots more, even up to her time with Lutanda (Retirement Village). The key point here is that she gave willingly of her time to help others. She used her gifts of intellect, expression and diligence to help these varied groups to function.

Shirley returned to work taking a position at Cheltenham Girls High. The school played a major part of her life. She taught English with a passion and acted as the coach of the very successful debating team. She made sure that no matter what their capabilities, she encouraged girls to go out and achieve their potential – girls can do anything was her motto. She became the school’s representative on the Teachers’ Federation and has been acknowledged as having “made a great contribution to public education”.

During her time at Cheltenham she had to work through the personal crises of losing her eldest son Richard to asthma and the divorce of her husband. However through both these events she was supported well by her colleagues and friends. As a single mother, Shirley raised her two sons Michael and Steve and found the time to gain her MA in Australian Literature from the University of Sydney.

All the time she was doing this, she was making maximum contribution to her superannuation, to allow her to retire at the age of 55. So in 1986 she retired with some sadness from Cheltenham and headed off back-packing around Europe. Travel was her other passion. She enjoyed seeing and attempting to understand other peoples’ cultures and was never afraid of mixing with the local people and seeing the world through their eyes. Her last major trip was to England last Christmas for a significant family reunion. She greatly enjoyed her move into Lutanda Retirement Village, being surrounded by so many old friends and colleagues.

Now it has all come to an end so quickly. On Saturday 8 April, Shirley, with her sister Valerie, her nephew Mark and great niece Charlotte, went up to the town of Maclean on the North Coast to speak at the centennial commemoration of a remarkable bridge that her grandfather had designed. Shirley gave a speech at the celebration dinner and spoke with her typical passion and clarity, but felt uncomfortable. After she finished she went outside, and fainted. The ambulance was called; she was taken to hospital, then evacuated by helicopter to Southport. I joined her there, spent some time talking and praying and watched her life peacefully depart.