Shirley Niemeyer, born Shirley Marie Sandrell 4/29/43 in Loretto, Tennessee passed peacefully in her shared home with her daughter Karin Niemeyer in Tamarac, Florida 7/12/19. Declining health from Lupus, COPD and then eventually Inflammatory Breast Cancer and Mesothelioma with Dementia over a 26 year battle of ill health,  while surpassing her husband Kenneth by 11 years died in the loving care of her daughters, Angie & Karin and sister Nancy Langley with the help of Hospice and a few close friends. Shirley was born into a rough childhood of alcoholic parents as the oldest of 6 siblings and being responsible for raising the others until she was 17. She was always very religious attending Catholic school and studying to be a nun until she met her now deceased husband Kenneth Niemeyer while working at the White Castle hop in St. Louis, MO. She asked her mom & the priest for the right to marry Ken and soon she left her siblings in the care of the next oldest sibling, her sister Bobby, and began a life with Ken. They worked the carnival traveling around together until they made their way to Hermosa Beach, California. Ken worked odd jobs to support them and attended computer school while they had their first child, Angie in Redondo Beach, California. Shortly thereafter moving to San Gabriel into a rented home while Ken climbed the ladder in the computer industry, Shirley concentrated on the family. In 1967, 10 years after meeting and marrying, they moved with Angie to Arcadia, California and 3 years later had their 2nd child, Karin Niemeyer. They enjoyed neighbors and a few close friends, The Scalas and Hallocks while living there. Ken & Shirley applied for a childcare license to start up a child babysitting care business, but we don’t recall that happening. Shirley stayed at home with us girls until each of us was old enough to enter school. Shirley continued her Catholic upbringing by raising us girls by God and living for her husband and her family. Early on, Shirley’s brother, Charles stayed with us and once he entered the Marines, he would bring a few of them back with him to spend Thanksgiving with us. Once her first, Angie had entered school, Shirley went to work selling Mary Kay cosmetics for a time and then worked as a Bra Fitter for May Stores later after her 2nd child Karin entered school. In 1970 Karin was born. We had learned that our father Ken had married before Shirley and that he had two sons. Ken & Shirley tried off and on unsuccessfully to adopt the sons and still sent alimony to the first wife. Later they took in Charles, Kenneth’s oldest for a very short time to try and turn him around, but he could not get it together enough to stay. Shirley and Ken remarried in the early 70s by the church this time.  Shirley became a Girl Scout Leader with then friend Pat Hallock, while Angie was in scouts and Karin was young.  An active troop involved in all kinds of efforts and events brought honors to the leaders and much joy to the scouts and Karin. While Karin was a small child, Shirley’s sister Nancy came to live with us in Arcadia before leaving to marry her husband Randy a time after. Seems our house was always full, with family, friends, and happenings. Ken and Shirley decided to move their daughters out of the suburbs of L.A. to get back to their country roots when they landed in Homer, NY in 1978. Shirley & Ken met their new friends Tom & Lou Nutting through their daughters' friends Michelle and Maria. They joined the bowling league their friends the Nuttings were on. Shirley went to work with Lou at TOPS Supermarket while husband Ken joined the fire dept. with Tom and Shirley joined the Fire Dept Auxillary. Ken continued to work in computers for a time. They then moved to Horseheads, later Big Flats and then Erin NY all the while Shirley remained on all of the Fire Dept Auxillarys. They returned to Missouri in 1996 when they moved next to Shirley’s sister Nancy and family at the lake in Dittmer. They joined the Board and began to look after the lake. They loved living there, but Shirley’s health continued to decline and Ken was diagnosed with cancer and in 2004 husband Ken suffered a traumatic brain injury in a head-on car accident. Shirley found herself with the daunting task of having to take care of Ken, while sick herself. They then moved to Tamarac, Florida into Angela’s home with Karin, retrofitted by Louis Falletta to accommodate Ken’s new needs, so that the family could help Ken recover and assist mom with her illness and care for Ken. Family together again. Shirley met Gloria Diaz who became her dear friend that continued to visit and call her weakly until her passing. With Shirley so sick, Louis took Ken back and forth to radiation in Miami while Angie attended school. After losing Ken to Cancer in 2008 Shirley re-joined the gym, Lou hired her a trainer and she tried to regain her health, but slowly she was declining from weakness from COPD with pneumonias and broken bones from years of prednisone taken for her Lupus. She enjoyed living with her girls and gaining a son in law, Louis Falletta in 2013. She enjoyed her friendship with Kathleen and mom Rita Rigolizzo. Shirley gave away Angie with son Eddie from her first marriage on the Lady Kathleen in Ft. Lauderdale, FL with some of our family and friends in attendance. Shirley showed us girls a bruise on her breast that we thought was just from sleeping funny just prior to the wedding. Within 2 weeks she had 2 bruises and by the time the medical field diagnosed those bruises with inflammatory breast cancer, Shirley’s right breast was covered with these bruises within a month and a halves short timing. Immediately Shirley started chemotherapy. Remission occurred after only 2 treatments, but therapy needed to continue for life as this Stage 3C breast cancer is a deadly form of cancer doubling in size every 2 weeks. Louis and Angela put off any idea of a honeymoon and stayed to care for mom with Karin. Pretty much any time Louis and Angela had planned a trip before, it had to be canceled as some emergency with mom would always occur. In 2014 Shirley wanted to make sure Karin was alright and together they bought a house to eventually be Karins where Karin had chosen in Tamarac, FL. Shirley had fallen at the hospital and broke her hip and the title company had to come to the hospital to finish the closing with Karin. Only a year later Shirley was diagnosed with Mesothelioma and another chemo was added to her regimen. Surgery was not an option for either or Shirley would have opted-in. Insurance dictated that a nasty cheaper drug be used for her breast cancer and after 2 treatments, added neuropathy to her troubles creating difficulty in feeling her feet to walk and her hands to feel and continued her weakness with dizziness. She took it all well, but suffered cases of pneumonia and falls leading to major bone breaks and further weakness. Shirley was strong in her will and fight to live and she had her daughters & Lou & friends by her side to help. The dementia was further complicating life and she was needing extra care beyond what her girls could give her alone as she needed someone with her 24 hours a day. For Lou this was extremely hard for him to bear as he lost his parents and brother having Dementia on board. We brought in friend Sharon Khan to assist mom early on through her first large bone break. Nancy came to stay with us for a while through those insults as well. After recovering from this bone break, a year later another, and another. Nancy came back down again for a time. When Shirley recuperated from these insults she reluctantly agreed to join a senior center, as she really had no choice as she could not be left alone. She joined Amazing Age, in Margate, FL by being told she would be working there. She loved to go and enjoy new friends, spiritual connections and new crushes and of course work. This was one amazing place owned and operated by Peggy and a few very special women. Shirley would then begin to take a handicap bus into the center on her own with Dementia which made her feel independent. We then hired another friend, Norma Benford where we enjoyed the closeness of friends with us caring for our mom. Although Shirley fought hard against having anyone have to look after her, all of us remained strong in our will to look after her best we all could while her sundowners took hold and gave us another Shirley. Her and Karin’s home remained a loving home throughout all of the pain, suffering, arguments, derailing dementia and decline. We were blessed to have a helping and loving Lou, her sister Nancy’s help and the assistance of friends and new friends as well. Special thanks to Kathleen Rigolizzo and Jen next door. Karin and I were so blessed to have all of you by ours and mom's side through all of this. We will never be able to thank you all enough as you have all become our family and Shirley’s as well throughout Shirley's illness. As Louis and Angela now tend to Louis’s illness they are blessed to have such a family that continues to check-in and bring supportive love. Thank you, Nancy Langley, for joining us again through this sad loss of yet another sister so soon after losing your husband. You stood here for the sisters and brother who couldn’t and most lovingly. Thank you to Lou Falletta for his amazing support and understanding and many of times taking a back seat in life to this care we all provided Shirley. You were one amazing mom, friend, sister, wife & spiritual leader and you will be missed more then we could have ever thought. We will continue to honor your life by living our life as full and loving and spiritual as possible and to carry that spirit of you and dad with us in our daily lives. We’ve learned that home is in our heart and wherever we go it will be whether it be with a husband, friends or close family home will be in our hearts. Thank you for giving us home, family and life. Love you forever and more.