GUILDERLAND — Shirley Beatrice Shafer, a gracious woman who loved to dance, died, on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2014, at home, with her husband, Raymond Shafer Sr., by her side. She was 90.

Mrs. Shafer was born to Bessie (née Colliton) and Lewis Barber on April 15, 1924, in Duanesburg, on her parents’ Bozenkill Farm.

Her grandparents were of a German immigrant family, who settled in Huntersland, and her mother’s side, of English descent, settled in the Duanesburg area.

Her upbringing on the farm, during the Great Depression, served her well, wrote her family in a tribute.

She was stricken with rheumatic fever at age 9, and, while bedridden for a year, she learned to entertain herself, singing and teaching herself to play the parlor piano.

Growing up with post-Civil War era parents, she learned the songs of the 19th and early 20th centuries, and recalled, until her death, all seven or eight verses of the early history of American music, wrote her family.

“She was a true patriot in every sense of the word,” they wrote. She voted every year, with only one exception.

Mrs. Shafer graduated from Duanesburg Central High School in her early 20s, and signed up for the Civil Air Defense. She was a lookout in a tower in Duanesburg during World War II.

She served in many occupations throughout her life, as a waitress, a cook, a nursing-home aid, a factory worker for the Fuller Brush Company, and a caretaker for her family.

She was the caretaker for many children, especially her grandchildren — Faith, Gregory, and Lisa — whom she dearly loved, her family wrote.

Mrs. Shafer also loved to square dance, and garden with her husband, and she prepared “wonderfully cooked meals and baked like no other,” wrote her family.

Many would come to visit her, and have a sample of her baked goods; she was always a hospitable hostess.

She loved to play pinochle, even when she had Alzheimer’s, and she enjoyed singing at her daughter’s Civil War Musicales.

Even in the spring, at age 90, she attended a Palace Caverns dance, with her son-in-law, Bernie Sisson.

Her husband, Raymond Shafer Sr., was always by her side, holding her hand, as they watched television together and sang songs.

“She had a kindly, gracious way, and a quick wit,” her family wrote. “She was a great lady, gracious and quiet, but fun-loving, the best of mothers, and a true friend.”

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In addition to her husband, Mrs. Shafer is survived by her daughters, Donna (née Bradt) Heath and Paula Shafer Sisson; her stepchildren, Loren Shafer Sr., Raymond Shafer Jr., Lucille Kellie, and Richard Shafer; her grandchildren, Gregory and Bessie (née Lividitis) Sokaris, Faith Sisson, Lisa Joslin, and her husband, Andy, Laurie Kass, and her husband, Erik, Nicole Juhl, and her husband, Robert, Loren and Marie Shafer, and Shaun and Dawn Sisson, Anthony Shafer, Katrina Shafer, and David Westfall, Timothy and his wife, Julie Shafer, Raymond Shafer III and Kellie (née Shafer) Bagnato and fiancé, Enry Nuniz, and Dale Shafer; and several great-grandchildren, nieces, and nephews.

Her siblings, Loren Barber Sr., and his wife, Hattie, Helen (née Deldee) Gage, and her husband Howard L., Kenneth Barber, and his wife, Agnes, and Milton Barber Sr., and his wife, Irene, died before her.

The family thanks Dr. Hedy Migden and St. Peter’s Hospice in-home care, and is grateful to long-time caretakers Jan Dano, and Lydia, Rose, Penny, Robin, Margie, and Nancy.

They also thank the Guilderland Paramedics team and the 9-1-1 service, and are grateful for the prayers and cards from members of the Knox Reformed Church.

The Fredendall Funeral Home in Altamont will hold calling hours on Friday, Oct. 3, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., and a funeral service will be held at the funeral home on Saturday, Oct. 4, at 10 a.m., with Rev. Timothy Van Heest officiating. Interment will follow at the Grove Cemetery in Delanson.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Knox Reformed Church, 2175 Berne-Altamont Road, Altamont, NY 12009.