Velma Sue Shannon

On June 11, 2016, 12:03 a.m., my dad became the happiest man in heaven. That is when my mom, the love of his life, decided it was time to join him. Velma Sue Anderson Shannon passed away in Victorville, CA. She was born January 5, 1943, in Bloomington, Illinois, to Audrey Etta Phillips Anderson and Delmar Banks Anderson both of Illinois. She was "the baby" of five children all of whom survive her. She spent a lot of her younger years in Kentucky helping her Grandma. She graduated from Eisenhower High School in Rialto, California, in 1961. She married her best friend's brother, Fred T. Shannon, on January 18, 1963. Together they had two daughters, Kathleen (Edward) Margret Damm and Peggy Eileen Shannon. Peggy was born with Cystic Fibrosis, a genetic disease.

My mom was one of the most awesome women put on earth. I don't say that because she was my mom, but because everyone has always told me that, even my friends. She was a very strong, selfless, caring, nurturing and intelligent woman. I'm pretty sure she had to be all those things to survive the teenage and beyond years of my sister and I. She always told you what you needed to hear even if you didn't want to hear it. She worked for Colton Unified and Apple Valley Unified School Districts as a Teacher's Assistant in special education. In 1997 my sister, Peggy, became extremely ill and my mom retired. My mom sat by my sister's side from November to May while she was hospitalized. Peggy came home with brain damage and required help in all ways. My mom was my sister's caregiver for the next thirteen years. During those years, my dad also required care and my mom took care of both of them. See what I mean about her being awesome. My dad passed in 2009 and my sister passed 13 months later in 2011. My mom was lost with no one to take care of.

When my Aunt June fell and broke her kneecap, my mom didn't hesitate to take on the roll of caregiver once again. Over time my mom's scoliosis and osteoporosis got the best of her so she moved in with my Aunt June. Let us just say what a duo they became. You probably saw them around town, my mom, the little hunched over gray haired old lady in her loud pants with her walker, and my Aunt June, the taller one with dark hair trying to find her, my mom liked to wander.

My mom's favorite time of year was Christmas she loved every aspect of it. Her favorite things were wrapping beautiful gifts and snowmen. People took their gifts to her to have them wrapped and some of her favorite snowmen stayed out all year long. Then there was the Christmas music, my oh my, was there music. She started playing it at Thanksgiving and played it until people got sick of it. She started shopping for the next year right away she loved a bargain.

My mom will be missed by all of her siblings Andy, Phil (Wanda), June Sipos and Margaret (Jim) Phillips. No one will miss her as much as me, Kathleen. My mom also leaves behind her truest friend, Nadine Lloyd. Thank you Nadine for being there for my mom no matter what. She loved you and Emma very much. There are a whole bunch of cousins, nieces and nephews, and all their friends, and all my friends who now have holes in their hearts also. I truly do not know what I would have done if Aunt June had not helped my mom when her back got so bad. AJ as we call her is an amazing woman. I love her almost as much as I love my mom. She was with me at the hospital when my mom took her last breath. Thank you from the bottom of my heart Aunt June, I owe you one or two.

A celebration of my mom's life will take place at Kern Mortuary in Hesperia on Sunday, June 26, 2016, at 11:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers, please support The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, your local animal shelter or the charity of your choice. I love you, mom!