PITTSFIELD – Shirley Ann Lyons Spiewak, 82, died peacefully Saturday, March 24th, surrounded by her loving family, at the Providence Care Center of Lenox, where she had resided since June 2011.
Shirley was born in Highland Park, Michigan on Nov. 3, 1929, to Edward D. Lyons and Jeanette A. Kidd Leslie. She attended local Detroit schools and graduated from East Commerce High School in June 1947. Following her graduation, Shirley moved to Pittsfield, where she lived with her late grandmother, Edith B. Lyons, and worked as a telephone operator at New England Telephone. She married her husband, Lewis J. Spiewak, Sr., on July 15, 1950, in Canaan, New York.
Shirley worked at a number of jobs through the years, but her primarily focus was always raising her large family. Her home was the focal point for the neighborhood, and it wasn’t uncommon for 20 or more children to be in the yard on any given day playing with her own kids. She was an excellent swimmer, and often took family and friends to Pittsfield lakes for days of picnics and swimming. She was an excellent cook, and especially loved to bake. Her cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and pies were legendary among family, friends, and neighbors. Her wedding cakes, which were given to family and friends as gifts, rivaled those of any bakery. Shirley enjoyed playing bingo, attending penny socials, and entering numerous contests. She was usually quite lucky and won many prizes. Her favorite pastime, though, was spending time with family and friends. She especially enjoyed the many trips she made to the Detroit area to spend time with her father and her brother and sister and their large families.
Besides her parents, Shirley was predeceased by her loving husband of 48 years on August 10, 1998; her dear brother, Richard Lyons, on November 15, 1999, and her beloved son, Stephen Spiewak on December 26, 2011. She is survived by her sister, Mrs. Sylvia McCracken of Roseville, Michigan, her sister-in-law, Mrs. Joan Lyons of Clinton Township, Michigan, her sons, Lewis Spiewak Jr,, and his wife, Shirley, of Moneta, Virginia, David Spiewak and his wife Janet or Oriental, North Carolina, Raymond Spiewak and his wife Susan of Southborough, Massachusetts, and Michael Spiewak of Pittsfield; her daughter, Sandi Darrow and her husband Richard, Jr. of Lanesborough, her daughter-in-law, Shauna Spiewak of Dalton; 13 grandchildren, two great grandchildren, and many nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews.
FUNERAL NOTICE: Funeral services for Shirley A. Spiewak will be held Friday, March 30, 2012, at 11 a.m, at DERY FUNERAL HOME with Rev. James K. Joyce, pastor of Sacred Heart Church, officiating. Burial will follow in St. Joseph’s Cemetery. Calling hours will be Thursday, from 4 to 7 p.m., at the Dery Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, contributions in memory of Mrs. Spiewak may be made to HospiceCare in The Berkshires in care of the Dery Funeral Home, 54 Bradford Street Pittsfield.
(Obituary via Legacy.com)
