Obituary of Shirley Lawrence

Shirley Lawrence (nee Chapman) died peacefully in her sleep on April 22, 2022. Shirley dedicated her life to her family and her artistic and athletic pursuits. She leaves behind Peter Lawrence, her partner of 69 years, her 4 children – Grant, Brad, Ann and Scott - , 8 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild. Shirley was born in London England and came to Canada in 1962 with her husband Peter and settled in Ottawa, where they started their family. She loved to spend time with and do things for her children and grandchildren. Family gatherings were a priority for her and something that she spent much time organizing as often as she could. 

Shirley was a tenacious, dedicated and hard-working woman who taught tennis, badminton, squash and pottery classes for many years. She was one of the first women in Canada to obtain a very high level of coaching in squash, won awards and commissions for her clay sculptures and was the oldest player at the pickleball club. Here is an interview from 2016 about her pickleball playing, her history and some of her perspectives on life. https://www.pressreader.com/canada/ottawa-citizen/20160919/282394103917713 

She continued to educate herself with sculpture and other art classes and loved to garden, having created her own version of an English Flower Garden, in which she spent hours working on daily during the summer months.   She also loved to travel, meet new people and dance!

Shirley remained active in her later years and walked 2 hours daily and continued with her athletics with Pickleball 4- 5 times per week most weeks and sometimes attended an outdoor fitness/dance class. She will be remembered with fondness and love by the many people she touched through her teaching, generosity and kindness.  

In lieu of flowers, please donate to the following charity - https://www.natureconservancy.ca/en/ 

For more information on the Celebration of Life for Shirley that is happening on June 4^th  2022, please contact Peter directly.