Shirlee B. Nicholson

CARLSON, Shirlee June Boal Nicholson Age 89, a 52-year resident of Beavercreek, died on May 17, 2015, after a short illness. Shirlee loved lavender and lilacs, good books and playful words, wine, snowmen, Tyrone, Pennsylvania, chocolate-and-peanut butter candies, remembering other people's birthdays, but most of all, spending time with an ever-growing circle of friends and family. One of six children, and the fourth daughter of Winfield Scott and Alice Lenna Boal of Tyrone, Pennsylvania, Shirlee was born February 1, 1926. Her's was the only Tyrone High School class to graduate without a senior yearbook because of wartime paper shortages. She chose to work at Penn State University after high school, and enrolled in classes there. Several years later, she accepted a position in Wiesbaden, Germany, during the Allied occupation after WWII. Her letters home describe weekend travels during her two-year stay, and photo albums filled with her smiles as she posed in Venetian canal boats, with skis in Garmish, and behind the wheel of her Fiat Topolino. Snow-covered Alps were frequently the backdrop. Following her work overseas, the U.S. Air Force re-assigned her to Wright Patterson in Ohio, where she met her future husband, John Nicholson. They married in 1953, and started a family in a house they built together in Fairborn. Before long, the family transferred to Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii. There a four-year-old and younger toddler learned it was normal to go swimming on Christmas, and the joys of running barefoot and snatching at lizards. Her "pineapple baby" boy was born less than two years after Hawaii became the 50th state. After almost four years in the Pacific, the Nicholsons returned to Wright Patterson and purchased a home in Beavercreek. Shirlee enjoyed being at home with her children but was determined to continue her education at Wright State University, t then brand new and just around the corner. She graduated with a master's degree in 1979 and taught English at WSU for eight years. Shirlee so enjoyed reading she became a member of the Beavercreek Friends of the Library and Great Books Club. As state president of the Friends she enjoyed traveling throughout Ohio on library visits. Especially notable was her trip to the White House for a national luncheon hosted by First Lady Barbara Bush, who spoke about literacy and the importance of libraries. A neighborhood book club continued her love affair with literature. Some years after John's passing in 1981, Shirlee and Jack Carlson began seeing each other, a relationship they formalized as Mr. and Mrs. in 1986. She and Jack travelled happily, sometimes under the auspices of Elderhostel, visiting Spain, Alaska, Sweden, and once taking a canal barge tour of France. For her 70th birthday, they cruised through the Panama Canal. Her 80th birthday was a delightfully large surprise party orchestrated by family and friends in Beavercreek. Shirlee was preceded in death by her parents, her older sisters, Elizabeth (Betty) Boal Fuld of New York; Margaret (Peg) Boal Brower of Bellingham, Washington; Miriam (Tiny) Boal Hiller of Tyrone; and two younger brothers, Ronald Boal of Tyrone and James Boal of Portage, Michigan. Her first husband, and father to their children, John Kennon Nicholson, died in 1981; their infant son, John Logan, died in 1955. Though she frequently lamented "I am the last one left," she most certainly was not. Shirlee is survived by her husband John (Jack) Carlson; daughter, Jeanne Nicholson Siler, of Charlottesville, Virginia; granddaughters, Natalie and Ginger Siler, of Charlottesville and Austin, Texas, and their father, N. Wayne (Nic) Siler, also of Charlottesville. She leaves a son, William Nicholson, his wife Cathy and their sons, Miles and Kennon, all of Ft. Wayne, Indiana. She is also survived by her son Eric Nicholson, his wife Maria, and their two sons, Kyle and Patrick, all of Vienna, Virginia. She leaves three sisters-in-law: Marilyn Boal of Portage, Michigan; Martha Jean Nicholson Orwick, of Sebring, Ohio; and Carol Scott Alley of Albuquerque, New Mexico; and three step-daughters and their families: Christy Carlson and Jim Curry, of Columbus, Ohio; Kim Carlson, and Katharine, Peter and Samuel Lovering, of Yellow Springs, Ohio; and Wendy, Tom and Alan Forbes, of Orient, Ohio. Dozens of nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews are already remembering their Aunt Shirlee with fondness and Facebook posts. Visitation will take place from 12:30 to 1:30 pm, on May 22, with a service at 1:30 pm at Newcomer Funeral Home on Dayton-Xenia Road in Beavercreek; interment will follow at Valley View Cemetery. The family wishes to express deep its appreciation and thanks to the staff at Trinity and at Hospice of the Miami Valley for their patience and consistent good cheer while helping Shirlee during her last days. Those wanting to make donations in her name may consider the Beavercreek Friends of the Library or the Beavercreek Women's League.