ForeverMissed
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Her Life

You Made Everything Right

October 2, 2019
I Love You So Very Much Mom and Miss You So Very Deeply!! 

"Mom, Your Always With Me"

May 12, 2013

When you need your mom the most, don't forget she's still a part of you.

Your mother is always with you...
She's the whisper of the leaves as you walk down the street. 
She's the smell of bleach in your freshly laundered socks. 
She's the cool hand on your brow when you're not well.
Your mother lives inside your laughter and your smile. She's crystallized in every tear drop that falls.... 
She's the place you came from, your first home.. She's the map you follow with every step that you take. 
She's your first love and your first heart break....and nothing on earth can ever separate you. 
Not time, Not space... Not even death.... will ever separate you from your mother's love.... 
You carry her inside of you....She's your tree of life.....


~and I will continue to carry it on..... 

Illuminating Beacon of Light

February 4, 2013

Shirley was an illuminating "Beacon of Light" to the lives of many.  She was definitely an inspiration of God's  true love and light. No matter who it was, she always shared what God had brought her through and how He always remained faithful in her life. She encouraged others that God could do the same for them too, that He is no respecter of persons.  (Romans 2:11)


Shirley loved collecting lighthouses, she had quite the collection. 

Another one of her favorite songs was:
" The Lighthouse"

The reason Shirley loved lighthouses so much was because it reminded her of God's light, how we are to be a lighthouse for Jesus to bring others to the knowledge of Christ.  No matter what kind of storms you are facing in life and even in the darkest of nights, that the lighthouse was the way you could find your way back to the shore or your way back home.  And to always "stand still" and not be moved or swayed by the waves of life that toss you around. "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10)


She loved the ocean and the beach too....that's where you find the lighthouse standing.    


 

Shirley's light will continue to shine through the lives that she has so deeply touched.

January 19, 2013

Shirley Mae (Clark) Ford, 65, of Fairplay, Maryland, went to be with her Lord and Savior Friday, September 9, 2011 at Meritus Medical Center in Hagerstown.  She was surrounded by her loved ones and many close friends.  She was able to tell each one of them that she loved them. We sang to her "Sweet Holy Spirit" and she said she was tired and she drifted off to sleep, knowing that the Angels had called her by name and carried her off to her final destination...Heaven with Jesus! It was very peaceful.

2 Corinthians 5:8 "We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord."

Luke 23:43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Philippians 1:21 "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain."


Born on December 31, 1945, in Keedysville, Maryland, she was the daughter of the late Orville Huntsberry and Laura Ethelena (Lowery) Clark.  Her husband, Terry Lee Ford, preceded her in death in 2006.

She attended Boonsboro High School. She did not graduate. Shirley was sensitive about not going further in her education, but said her wisdom and common sense more than made up for it. Shirley's sense of humor allowed her to laugh at her "southern twang,"  the way she pronounced things and her style of often saying things backwards, such as cheese grill instead of grilled cheese.

She enjoyed bowling and was a member of many leagues at Turner's Dual Lanes. One of her highest sets with a handicap was 662.

Shirley was employed with her husband at his business of almost 30 years at Ford Communications Company, in Hagerstown.

She was a member of Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church, where she was active in the Women's Group, and the Choir. She loved to sing. One of her favorite songs was "One Day At A Time".  She was  also a member of the World of Wonderful Widow's (WOWW) at the Virginia Avenue Church of God in Hagerstown.

She is survived by her three daughters, Sandra L. Jamison of Hagerstown, Brenda L. Ford Eyler and husband Steve of Hagerstown, and Patricia L. Ford McKinley and husband Troy of Martinsburg, West Virginia; her sister, Marlene Cooper of Purcellville, Virginia; and four brothers, Harold Clark of Frederick, Maryland, Gerald and Roger Clark of Hagerstown, and Eugene Clark of Purcellville.  She is also survived by her five grandchildren, Alicia Jamison Avila, Joshua McKinley, Steven Eyler, Mercedes McKinley, and Rylan Eyler.

In addition to her parents and her husband, she was preceded in death by a sister, Mary Jane Ritchie; and a brother, Orville H. Clark, Jr.


Shirley was a powerful "Prayer Warrior" and her faith in God was very evident.

Isaiah 40:31 "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

Shirley was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma in 1990 at the young age of 45. Shirley was not a quitter. She pressed on, knowing God was with her every step of the way. Taking one day at a time. She received full radiation and chemotherapy treatments and a bone marrow transplant. (they used her own bone marrow, cleaned it out and reinjected it. Knowing it was not as risky and her body would be more susceptible to receiving her own). She was treated and stayed at Johns Hopkins for 6 months.  She was in remission for 21 years.

In 2003, Shirley was diagnosed with a mass on her uterus. They removed the tumor and she did not have to receive any treatments.


Shirley had undergone surgery in 2005 and 2007 for Carcinoid Cancer, which attacked her small intestines and colon. This is a slow growing tumor and there is no cure for this type of cancer. In 2005, they removed part of the tumor. Again, in 2007, they removed the tumor and 1/3 of her small intestines and colon. She recovered very well from both operations. In 2009/2010 she needed to have more surgeries on the tumor, but her body could not withstand another operation. So, she coped as long as she could and stood on God's Word and her faith, until she took a turn for the worse early 2011. Her doctors told her and her family that her kidneys were starting to fail and there wasn't anymore that they could do. 

She also battled basal cell skin cancer at different times.  

Shirley definitely fought the good fight of faith. 1 Timothy 6:12 " Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses."

She was truly a walking miracle.


Shirley never complained about anything. Instead, she prayed about everything.