Shirley Tordo, a longtime resident of Guilford, passed away on Sept. 26 at the age of 96, two weeks short of her 97th birthday. She led a full life. Born Shirley Virginia Smith in Meridian, Mississippi, on Oct. 15, 1926, to Marguerite Lillian Ilsley Smith and Elmer Davis Smith, she spent her youth in Biloxi.

Her family moved to West Haven when she was 13, and she attended West Haven High School. She worked as a seamstress during World War II, making life preservers. She later studied at the New Haven State Teacher’s College, where a friend introduced her to John Tordo. They were married in 1947, lived in Milford for a time, and started a family. They settled in Guilford in 1955. In 1976, Shirley graduated from Vinal Tech Nursing School and became an LPN. She worked at Middlesex Hospital and with the Shoreline Visiting Nurse Association. Her love of quilting was the focus of her life once her six children left the nest.

Shirley was predeceased by her parents, her husband, John; her four siblings: Elizabeth Albrecht, Glenn Smith, Evelyn Anne Condon, and James Smith; and her daughter-in-law, Suzanne. She is survived by her six children: her daughter, Virginia Pettigrew and her husband David of Monroe; her son, John Jr. “Jack” of Roseburg, Oregon; her son, Peter, of Framingham, Massachusetts; his wife Carol Osler and his children, Emily Atkins of Amesbury, Massachusetts; her husband James and their children Enid and Phoebe, Sam of Amesbury, Massachusetts; Julia of Los Angeles, and Garrett of Brookline, Massachusetts; her son, Michael, of Shelton, his wife Lynn, his children Jennifer Gaudio, her husband Ben and their children Savannah and Benjamin of Florida, Jaclyn Maier and her husband, Ezekiel, and their son, Arthur, of Kensington, Maryland, Joshua Tordo of E. Haven, and stepson, Eddie O’Brien of Cromwell; daughter Peggy Brown of Ellicott City, Maryland; and her husband Russell; daughter Judi Tordo of Brownfield, Maine and her children, Juniper and Roze Schenstrom; along with numerous nieces and nephews and their children.

Shirley had a good, long, and full life with many adventures, traveling across the United States and abroad. She was the cherished matriarch of her large extended family. She was a longtime member of the St. George Parish Community, well respected and loved by many, and will be dearly missed.

Visitation will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 5, at the Guilford Funeral Home. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 6, at St. George Church, 33 Whitfield Street, Guilford. The church will be decorated with Shirley’s quilts. If you have one that you would like to honor her with by sharing, please bring it along. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in Shirley’s name to the SARAH Foundation in Guilford at https://SARAHFoundation.org/donate. To share a memory or leave condolences, visit www.guilfordfuneralhome.com.