Obituary of Shirley H. Walker

BELFAST – Shirley H. Elms Walker, 97, of Belfast, Maine, died peacefully on February 18, 2019, in Belfast, Maine, after a brief illness. She was born on September 16, 1921, in Belfast, the daughter of True H. Elms and Ida M. Elms (Robinson). Shirley graduated from Crosby High School in 1939. In high school, her parents ran a dairy farm and she helped to deliver milk to their customers. When she was 18, she moved to Waltham, Massachusetts to live with her aunt and uncle, and she worked at the Waltham Watch Factory. She later enrolled at the Wilfred Academy of Hair and Beauty Culture in Boston and received her degree in her spare time. She moved back to Belfast in the mid 1940’s and worked as a hairdresser. She eventually opened up her own establishment with another close colleague. In the late 1940’s, she met Sgt. Mahlon Cressey, an Air Force recruiter, who was stationed in Belfast. They got married in the early 1950’s, and she moved to California where he was stationed at Mather Air Force Base in Sacramento. In 1958, she and her son moved back to Belfast. In 1963, she married Linwood K. Walker of Belfast where they led an active life together. Shirley loved to tend her flower garden and help her husband with their vegetable garden in the summer. She enjoyed snow skiing and for a time, took up curling. She also enjoyed spending summer days at their camp at St. George’s Lake and even continued to water ski into her sixties. One of her fond memories later in life was being asked, along with her husband, to speak to local students about life in the 20’s and 30’s. She greatly enjoyed spending time with her friends. She was also active in playing bridge with other ladies from Belfast. She had a great love for music and especially loved Nat King Cole and got to see him several times when she lived in MA. Shirley is survived by her son, Michael E. Cressey and his wife, Mary Wright and their two children, Truman and Lauren Cressey, of Grantham, NH; niece Elaine Hendrickson and her husband, Eric, of Presque Isle and their daughter Melissa Hendrickson of Idaho; sisters-in-law Marian Holmes of Belfast, and Lula Wright of Rochester, NH. She is predeceased by Linwood Walker, her husband of 51 years; her sister Ruth E. Webber; her parents; and Kyle Hendrickson of Australia. A graveside memorial will be held sometime in the summer at Grove Cemetery in Belfast.