Grace 'Esther'
Shockley, 91
DOVER, Del. - Grace "Esther" (Milborn) Shockley passed away Sunday, March 20, 2022 in Bayhealth Medical Center, Kent Campus. She was surrounded by her loving family members.
Esther was born in Milford, Del. October 30, 1930 to the late Harvey & Mildred (Phillips) Milborn, where she grew up on a small farm SE of Milford. She attended Milford School District, was a member of the Milford High School Band, and graduated in 1948. She met her husband of 56 years, Maurice L. Shockley, Jr., as a pen pal, married a few years later on October 4, 1952. After their marriage, she joined him, as he served in the U.S. Army as a MP in Hawaii for two years. While in Hawaii, they both witnessed the filming of the epic movie, that focused on the bombing of Pearl Harbor, "From Here To Eternity", starring Montgomery Cliff, Donna Reed, Burt Lancaster, Frank Sinatra, Ernest Borgnine, Claude Akin, and many others.
After their service to the U.S. Army, they both returned to Delaware. Maurice returned to his job at Playtex, and, Esther also worked at Playtex. However, her most notable employment was with the small chain of Dover restaurants, the Village Pizzas where she met long-time friend, Juanita Kimball. Village Pizza was owned by old friends Jack and Alvin Jarrell. Esther also worked for them at The Flagstone Restaurant on Loockerman St., Dover. She later worked for the Caesar Rodney School District in the cafeteria of Reily Brown Elemtentary, before retirement.
Country Music was a large common interest they shared as a couple. Maurice performed as an artist and Esther followed him, watched their three sons while he played on many Saturday nights, or took the three sons to shows while Maurice played. They visited many sites related to Country Music; most often and notably, Sunset Park near West Grove, Pa. and, of course, they did the pilgrimage to Nashville, Tennessee to visit the Ryman Auditorium.
They traveled often with her sister Sarah and her husband, Byron Cooper; and, often with long-time very close friends Virginia & Bill Brown.
She and Maurice lived in Milford, Felton, and Briar Park before settling into 59 Asbury Ave., Dover, Del., where the Shockley family has lived for over 60 years. In Briar Park she friended Cis Muzik and the Muziks (Cis, Bob, Dot, Paul, and John) along with the Williams (Pete, Lois, Denise, and Jerry) soon became "family". After moving into the Asbury Ave. community, the Hollegers (Marian, Fred, Barry, George, Jeff, David, and, eventually, Cheryl) along with the Wilhelm's (Paul, Janet, Glenn, Valerie, Sharon, Margaret, and, eventually, Mark), the Semans (Clayton, Alice, Lou, and June), and the Jarrells/Everetts (Joanne, Russell, and Kim) all became the core of the Asbury Ave. (Gang) Family. Saturday Easter egg hunts, Sunday Easter dress up for church, Christmas caroling, Halloween Birthday Parties for Glenn and Margaret Wilhelm, plastic baseball games at Shockley Stadium, and carnivals for Muscular Dystrophy were all big times on Asbury Ave. Esther was "Aunt Esther" to all the kids on Asbury Ave.
In addition to her parents; Esther was preceded in death by her husband, Maurice; her sisters, Sarah, Ida, & Marlene; brothers, Harvey, Jr., Ralph, Richard, and John; her cousin, William Phillips; sister-in-law, Eunice Smith and her husband, Thomas, Sr.; brother-in-law, Eugene Bedgood; niece and nephew, Juanita Smith and Ben Shockley; and, most preciously, granddaughter, Stacie Marie Shockley.
She is survived by her beloved sister and best friend, Mildred Jensen of Milford; three sons, Claude (Donna), Richard, and Jeffery (Virginia); grandchildren, Joshua, Erin, Julianne, Adam, and Monica; great-grandchildren, Shea, Jaxson, Miranda, and Mikenna; brother-in-law, James Benjamin Shockley and Charlotte (who were the Best Man and Matron of Honor in her wedding); sister-in-law, April Bedgood; and many beloved nieces and nephews.
Much thanks to Silver Lake Nursing Home, in particular to Cres and TJ who went out of their way to help "Miss Grace"/"Mom Mom".
Funeral Services will be held at 12 p.m., Saturday, April 2, 2022 at Trader Funeral Home, 12 Lotus St., Dover, DE 19901, where family and friends may gather from 10:30 a.m. Burial will take place at Sharon Hill Memorial Park, Sharon Hill Rd., Dover, Del.
Fellowship immediately following the burial services at a site undetermined at this time.
Letters of condolences may be sent to www.traderfh.com