Shirley Smith Anderton

She was born to Somers H. Smith and Hazel B. Smith in Elmhurst, Illinois, and grew up in a bustling family of one brother, Somers H. (Ethel) Smith Jr., and four sisters, Beverly S. (Champ) Champion, Marilyn Smith, Muriel S. (Harvey) Nack and Carol S. (Lloyd) Soley.

She graduated from the University of Chicago with a degree in Bacteriology. She went to work at Presbyterian Hospital in Chicago, where two of her colleagues were her future husbands sisters. After WWII ended, she married James Wesley Anderton and moved to Birmingham, Alabama, where she went to work in the lab of the Jefferson County Health Department.

Their marriage was blessed with three children; Wesley Scott (Martha) Anderton, Valerie A. (Rod), Abbott, and James Stewart Anderton, who died in 2018.

The Anderton family was regularly engaged in activities at Southside Baptist Church. Where Mr. and Mrs. Anderton taught Children’s Sunday School and Training Union Classes.

She served three terms as Secretary of the Glen Iris Neighborhood Association.

Shirley Anderton was widely known for her beautiful smile, which she freely shared with others who might not have had one of their own.

Remaining to celebrate her long life are her children: Scott (Martha) Anderton and Valerie Abbott, two grandsons; Gregory S. (Mandy) Anderton and Thomas W. (Jenine) Abbott along with grandchildren; Sara Anderton, Andrew (Sam), Alexander, and Ashlee Abbott, and twenty-three nieces and nephews and numerous friends and neighbors.

Services will be held at Johns-Ridout’s Elmwood Chapel on Wednesday, August 7, 2024 with a visitation at 10:00 AM and a Celebration of Life at 11:00 AM with burial to follow in Elmwood Cemetery.