Emily Edith Dobbs Shivers

On Sunday January 9, 2022, at the age of 88, Emily Edith (Dobbs) Shivers, formally of Wye Mills and Easton, MD, died peacefully at Signature Healthcare’s Mallard Bay, in Cambridge, MD. The seventh of nine children, she was born April 8,1933, at the family home of her late parents, Anna Engle (Stafford) Dobbs and George Darlington Stuart Dobbs of Delaware Township (now Cherry Hill), NJ. Emily, also known as "Skeeter," grew up on the family farm, where they raised crops to feed themselves, as well as growing tomatoes for Campbell’s Soup Company of Camden, NJ. She attended schools in Haddonfield and graduated from Haddonfield Memorial High School in 1950. Emily had an aptitude for mathematics and found work as a bookkeeper for Haddonfield National Bank. She stayed there until her marriage in 1953, then devoted herself to marriage, homemaking, and motherhood. In 1959, the household moved to Mill Creek Farm in Wye Mills, MD. There, the family grew to include six children. A farm background instilled Emily with an industrious, do-it-yourself spirit. She was well-suited to raise a family on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. She loved nature and tending growing things (children, animals, and plants). She always had a vegetable garden to put food away for the lean months. Growing up in the post-Depression years, taught her to "Use it up, wear it out, or do without". She developed ingenuity and resourcefulness, finding lots of ways to re-use, re-purpose and restore things, before it was called "Going Green." She felt a special pride in the results of her furniture refinishing, knitting, crochet, sewing, quilting and other craft projects. She had a keen mind and eye for things, adapting ideas to create unique clothing, home furnishings and gifts. She took on many roles as a homemaker, wife, mother, nurse, teacher, barber, landscaper, and gardener. As a farmwife, she could also be found helping on the farm and when her family began working on the Wye river, she could be found with a fishing pole or crab net in her hand. She had wide interests and never stopped learning. After learning what other family members could do with computers, at age 75, she got one for herself, learning how to use E-Mail, play games, scan and print pictures, and to explore the family's genealogy and history. Emily enjoyed traveling, visiting, and learning about new places. She organized family trips to various gardens, museums, historical and cultural sites. She supported her children’s school trips and arranged days at the beach. Nature always fed her spirit. She grew many flowers, but especially liked gladiolas, roses, and flowering trees, like dogwood and magnolia. At times, she experimented by planting marigolds to repel pests and milkweed to attract Monarch butterflies. She was fond of animals, especially dogs and enjoyed feeding and watching the birds. She found the colorful birds most appealing, cardinals, blue jays and hummingbirds. There was always a feeder in sight. In 1973, the family farm was sold and a new home built on a portion of the retained land. Again, Emily put her budgeting and decorating skill to use. To "get more for the money," she painted rooms and stained and varnished woodwork and sewed curtains and other items for use in the house. Then she planned and planted her vegetable garden, flower beds, and landscaping. Once her children were grown, Emily had time to reconnect with her siblings and their families. In 1987, she moved to Tuckerton, NJ. As age and hard work caught up with her body, Emily wanted to live closer to her children and spend more time with her grandchildren. So in 1999, she purchased her own home and moved to Salisbury, MD. Once more, she applied her skills to refresh and decorate the house and the yard. She joined the “Happy Timers” group for retirees, joining bus trips to shows, parks, and gardens. Eventually, health and memory problems interfered with her ability to live independently. In 2010, it was clear she had dementia. Her last move was in 2019 to Memory Care at Heartfields Assisted Living at Easton, MD. Due to an injury in late 2021, she transferred to Signature Healthcare at Mallard Bay, Cambridge, MD. Her final challenge was with COVID-19. She contracted it twice, succumbing to the second infection. Emily is survived by five of six children: Patricia Harrison, Mitchell, Janet, Mark, and Jo Anne. Her daughter, Carol Bradley Scissons, precedes her, passing away on January 12, 2017. Her grandchildren also survive her, Jason Bradley, Christina (Bradley) Blair, Virginia (Fuller) Pitts and Zane Fuller; as do her great-grandchildren, Gabriel and Penny Bradley, as well as Arthur and Dylan Blair. Emily is predeceased by seven siblings Albert, Dorothy LaCava, George, Alfred, Virginia Hinchman, Edmund, and Roland; her youngest sister, Linda Laudenslager, and one sister-in-law, Elaine (Ball) Dobbs, survive her, along with many cousins, nephews, nieces, great nephews and nieces, as well as great, great- nephews and nieces. A Visitation will be held on Friday, April 8, from 4pm until 6pm at Fellows, Helfenbein & Newnam Funeral Home, Easton. A Celebration of Emily’s life is planned for Sunday, April 10, 2022, from 12pm until 3pm at The Legacy Club at Woodcrest, 300 Evesham Road, Cherry Hill, NJ 08003. Burial will be private. In keeping with Emily's spirit, please wear spring or floral colors or prints. The family wishes to thank Dr. Robert Smoloski and Dr. Patricia Johnson as well as the staff of both Signature Healthcare at Mallard Bay and Heartfields Assisted Living, for the respect and care they provided in Emily’s final years. In lieu of flowers, please plant a tree or flower in her memory or donate to a favorite charity.

Emily Edith Dobbs Shivers

April 8, 1933 - January 9, 2022