Shirley Foster McMahon passed away at home on Monday, Dec. 5, 2022, surrounded by her family. Born May 19, 1931, in Lysander to Glen and Bernice Reeves Foster, she graduated from Baldwinsville Academy in 1948 and the Crane School of Music at Potsdam College in 1952.
Shirley married Thomas Albert McMahon in 1953 and moved to Moravia, where their three boys were born. After relocating back to Baldwinsville in 1963, she worked as an elementary music teacher in Liverpool and briefly in Baldwinsville, retiring from Liverpool Central Schools in 1989.
She was a faithful worshipper at the Baldwinsville First United Methodist Church for sixty years, where she performed in the bell choir and played piano. In retirement, Shirley and Tom enjoyed traveling around the country, walking at Beaver Lake and spending time with their grandchildren. She was a member of the Betsy Baldwin chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Shirley was predeceased by her brother, Robert Foster in 2001, and her husband, Tom in 2012. She is survived by a sister-in-law, Joan Kisselstein Foster of Baldwinsville; three sons, Andy (Janet) of Colorado Springs, CO, and Tim (Sally) and Steve, both of Baldwinsville; nine grandchildren, Michael McMahon (Kristen), Amy Scherman (Parker), Ben Davis (Candace), and Holly (Dana), Jackson, Amanda, Claire, Eliza and Catherine McMahon; and five great-grandchildren.
A memorial service was held on Thursday, Dec. 8, at the Baldwinsville First United Methodist Church. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Female Charitable Society located at 10 River Street in Baldwinsville.
