NAPLES, Fla. – Shirley Cook Macpherson, 84, passed away Feb. 28, 2009, at her home, after a long and courageous battle with heart disease. She was the daughter of Clifford C. Cook and Sarah McElroy of South Portland. She was a 1941 graduate of South Portland High School. Upon graduation, Shirley worked for the Boston and Maine Railroad. She married Stephen R. Macpherson, May 12, 1944, while he was home on military service leave from World War II. Upon his return from the military, they lived in Orono while he completed his college education and she pursued interests in mathematics. Upon Steve’s graduation, they settled in Lincoln, where Steve taught and became coach of coaches at Mattanawcook Academy. Steve was recalled to the Korean War in 1950 and Shirley moved to Cape Elizabeth. After the Korean War, they returned to Orono where Steve ran the Bangor division of the family business, Penn Maine Oil Co. Shirley served as president of the Jaycee’s wives club. They later returned to live in Cape Elizabeth, where they owned and managed Penn Maine Oil Co. Shirley is survived by her husband of 64 years; her son, Stephen C. MacPherson and his partner in life, Lou Ann Castonguay, of Falmouth; daughter, Bonnie Grant and her husband, Bob, of Falmouth; and her sisters, Katherine McGlauflin of Rockport, Mass., and Anne Lake of Bow Lake, N.H. Shirley has four grandchildren, one great-grandchild and five nieces. Her family will be forever grateful for her caregivers at Naples Community Hospital. A private family service will be held in the summer in Maine.
SHIRLEY COOK MACPHERSON
