To the Family of Trinity Church, Streetsville:
Almost two weeks ago, on February 15th, Shirley Burgess, our parish secretary and office manager at Trinity from 1990 - 2011, passed on at Credit Valley Hospital. We sent out a notice of Shirley's death at that time but I want to write a bit more aout her today as a tribute to all she did for Trinity. Shirley was one of the people who had a great influence on the shaping of Trinity Church over the past 30 years and who helped it to thrive and bless so many people.
Clark and Shirley Burgess first came to Trinity, along with their teenaged children, Heather and Derek, in the summer of 1989, while we were meeting in the parish hall for servicees while the church was being painted. Clark and Shirley quickly became part of the Trinity family, involved in various activities and easily making friends.
In the winter of 1990, our parish secretary, Davina Anderson, retired and shortly thereafter Shirley was appointed to the position, which she would hold for more than 20 years. It was a job in which she excelled.
At first, it was a half time position, but as the church grew it became a full time ( and often more) position. Her first job was to oversee the transition of the office to using computers and all that this involved.
Shirley put her own stamp and personality on this role. She went about the work of running the office calmly, making sure everything was going on as it should. She was never flustered, and never seemed to be pressured or stressed about her work. She greeted everyone with a warm smile and created an atmosphere of peace and calm. Anyone who came into the office was assured a genuinely warm welcome.
Over the years, as we embarked on a building project, saw it burn down, and started again to build something new, Shirley's working conditions changed frequently and weren't always the best, but she took every disruption in stride and always met the challenge as though it were no effort at all.
She was totally trustworthy and always showed the wisdom and discretion necessary to work wisely at the heart of a busy church's operations centre. She was cheerful and kind, and on several occasions was able to make the day feel better for someone who might drop into the office feeling troubled about something.
Shirley was very health conscious and often went to a workout class at a local community centre at lunch time. She would also walk to and from work (a distance of about 3 miles). When walking home, she would often call Clark as she was leaving and he would walk out to meet her at the midway point so they would walk home together.
She was also known to have monitored and commented on my efforts to smuggle the odd McDonald's breakfast sandwich into the office, and suggest more healthy alternatives I might want to consider.
Shirley and Clark were devoted to each other. They met as teenagers, and as Clark said, "we never looked back". Shirley loved her family which grew to include a daughter-in-law, Katie, a son-in-law, Mike and 4 grandchildren - Cameron, Hayley, Kyle and Jessica. Her face would shine when we spoke about her family.
Shirley was also a woman of deep faith, a humble follower of Jesus.
St. Paul wrote to the Colossian church, instructing them how to live as followers of Jesus: "clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." This describes Shirley to a tee.
Through her loving heart and generous care, her deep desire to bring joy and peace to every situation, her gentle spirit and desire to all things well, and her contentment in life, Shirley was truly an ambassador for Jesus. She represented Him well.
Near the end of her life, Shirley became very ill and her body weakened, broke down, and eventually shut down. But Shirley did not die. We trust that she was received into the tender arms of Jesus and the eternal love of God, in anticipation of the Day of Resurrection and joys of the world to come that God has promised.
May she rest in Peace and Rise in Glory! Till that great day! Let us remember Shirley's family in our prayers as they make their way through these difficult days.
Peace,
Harold Percy
