Shirley C. Warden

Shirley Clark Warden, 79, passed away May 21, 2014 at Springs Village in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Shirley was born October 24, 1934 in Newport, Rhode Island to Wilfred W. and Gladys G. Clark. Shirley attended Rogers High School in Newport and graduated with honors in 1951. She then went on to Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts, graduating with a degree in Social Work in 1955. Following graduation she worked as a social worker in Manchester, New Hampshire and then in 1957 accepted a similar position in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. While employed in Fitchburg, Shirley continued her education and pursued a master’s degree in psychology at Boston University. She then went on to work at the Chapel Hills School (presently Chapel Hills – Chauncey Hall School) in Waltham, Massachusetts where she was a housemother in one of the school’s dormitories. Later Shirley became the assistant headmaster of the school and co-director of the school’s summer program – a position she shared with her husband Ronald W. Warden. Shirley and Ron were married in the spring of 1961 and had two children while in Waltham, Benjamin R. in November 1961 and Christopher C. in August 1964. In June of 1968, the family moved to Waterbury, Connecticut where Shirley worked as a College Counselor at Saint Margaret’s School (presently Chase Collegiate School). In August of 1972, the Wardens again moved, this time to Colorado Springs, Colorado. There Shirley was a reading specialist and counselor at Fountain Valley School. Life then took her to Bloomfield Hills, Michigan in 1985, to Exeter, New Hampshire in 1992 to care for her ailing mother, and back to Colorado Springs in 2001 to be closer to her children and grandchildren.

Shirley was a New Englander at heart but over time came to love Colorado and its beauty. Nevertheless, she loved the ocean, the beach, and summers along the New Hampshire seacoast. She was a wife and mother who loved her family dearly, and who was greatly loved in turn. Shirley’s intellect and a clever wit made her a person people drew to. She was an educator and counselor, passionate about young people and the challenges they faced. She is credited with helping many students find their way, graduate and lead successful productive lives. She also loved gardening, flowers and arrangements that filled her family’s home in the summer months.

Shirley is survived by her husband Ronald W. Warden of Colorado Springs, son Benjamin R. Warden, daughter-in-law Dawn Warden, granddaughter Jessica Warden and her fiancée Colton Jones, and great granddaughter Alena Rae Jones, all of Colorado Springs, granddaughter Leah D. Gallur, her husband Joe and great grandson JJ Gallur of San Antonio, Texas, son Christopher C. Warden, daughter-in-law Teresa J. Warden, granddaughter Mackenzie C. Warden, and grandson Westen R. Warden of Loveland, Colorado, and sister Margaret (Buzzi) C. Cannistraro, her husband Nicholas Cannistraro Jr. of Annapolis, Maryland, and nieces Melissa Salvesen of Edgewater, Maryland and Margaret (Maggie) Hallbach of Oakton, Virginia.