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Lillie Mabel Shields

Lillie Mabel Shields

Lillie Mabel Shields (nee Ryder) passed away peacefully in her 95th year at South Shore Villa in Crapaud, Prince Edward Island. Lylagh, as she liked to be called, was an early citizen of the Republic of Ireland. The Republic came into being on December 6th, 1922 and Lylagh was born on July 18th, 1923. A fierce and loyal supporter of the Irish Free State, she grew up in Dublin and studied to speak and write the Irish language. The daughter of a well-established hardware merchant, she entered the workforce as a clerk at Ryder's Hardware on Baggot Street in Dublin. Once through school she attended business college and worked as a legal secretary. Early in the 1940's she met the love of her life, Samuel Shields, at Grosvenor Road Baptist Church. Lylagh was in the choir and Samuel was a student minister studying in Dublin. They were married in 1948 and spent over 67 wonderful and challenging years together. Lylagh was soon in her lifetime role as mother and as support to a country pastor. In the churches where Samuel ministered, Lylagh was the one who typed and duplicated the bulletin, taught Sunday School and volunteered countless hours in support of church activities. In 1956, tired of the dreary sadness of post-war England, she and Samuel packed all their worldly possessions into 14 steamer trunks and sailed for Canada aboard RMS Carinthia with three very young children. After serving for 4 years in Parrsboro, N.S., life saw them once again head back to Ireland & England on the passenger-freighter Nova Scotia, but they had very fond memories of Canada, and in 1966 they made their final crossing by sea to Halifax on the Dutch liner Statendam. Samuel served in a number of small pastorates in Nova Scotia, as they both enjoyed the closeness of the small rural communities. Lylagh made many friends in these communities. Lylagh was a kind and gentle person with an iron will and a generous Christian spirit. Her philosophy was to make the best of whatever circumstances she found herself in, and to help those around her. She touched many. Never one to seek the limelight, she was a dedicated and loving Mother, but Lylagh had inherited her father's outrageous sense of humor. She could be outgoing and witty when the notion took her. In her later years, and indeed well into her eighties, Lylagh volunteered at the Upper Room in Charlottetown helping to feed the less fortunate. Lylagh was the last surviving member of her generation. She was predeceased by parents, Ira & Lily; husband, Samuel; son, Niall: siblings Fran, Milly, Joe & Sam. She is survived by daughter, Jennifer(Terry); sons Brian(Sandra) & Eric(Liz); grand-daughter, Jillian (Shaylor) and great-grand-daughters Kestrel, Larkin & Sage. A special thanks to all the members of the staff at South Shore Villa who made Lylagh's final years as pleasant and comfortable as possible. There will be a service at Trinity United Church on Richmond St. in Charlottetown at 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 23rd with a reception to follow at the Church. Family flowers only. Donations in Lylagh's name may be made to the Upper Room, Charlottetown. Funeral arrangements entrusted to Dawson Funeral Home, Crapaud. www.dawsonfh.com


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