Loie Judkins Shires
Dec. 9, 1921-Dec. 31, 2011
Los Altos, California

Loie Judkins Shires, 90, long active in the Episcopal Church and intensely committed to her family and friends, died peacefully in Los Altos on Dec. 31, 2011.

Born in San Francisco on Dec. 9, 1921, the daughter of the late Thomas Calvert Judkins and Elizabeth Funke Judkins, Loie Shires grew up in Berkeley, and attended the University of California. She married the late Rev. Dr. Henry M. Shires in 1941 and became the daughter-in-law of the late Mable Millis Shires and the late Henry H. Shires, former Dean of the Church Divinity School of the Pacific and later Suffragan Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of California.

After serving as rector of All Saint's Church, San Leandro, from 1939 to 1941, Dr. Shires became rector of Christ Church, Alameda from 1941 to 1951. Following a year in Oxford, England, Dr. Shires and his family moved to Los Altos, where he was rector of Christ Episcopal Church. In 1954, Dr. Shires began a 22-year career on the faculty at the Episcopal Theological School (now the Episcopal Divinity School) in Cambridge, Mass. During that time, Loie and her family enjoyed being a part of the greater Harvard community and living and traveling overseas, including sabbaticals in England and Italy. She also visited relatives in France on a number of occasions.

A very warm, generous and loving person, Loie also had a prodigious memory for people, places and history. She was an active volunteer for several organizations, including Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Mass., where she served as president of the Auxiliary Guild, and the American Cancer Society Discovery Shop in Los Altos, Calif. During her years in Massachusetts, Loie provided tremendous support and hospitality to graduate students and faculty. Throughout her life, Loie contributed to her husband's work and the Episcopal Church, supporting and caring for hundreds of people. She also contributed to many humanitarian causes, including CARE, since its inception after World War II.

The family's love of California brought them back, cross-country in their automobile, for the summer months in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Loie managed, as well, to make a yearly visit to England. Returning permanently to California in 1976, Dr. Shires served as rector of St. Matthew's, San Mateo and later as assisting clergyman at Christ Church, Los Altos.

Loie is survived by her three children: Stephanie Shires Hooper and her husband, Chester D. Hooper, of Harvard, Mass.; Elizabeth Shires Maguire and her husband, W. Terry Maguire, of Chapel Hill, N.C. and Nice, France; and Henry Calvert Shires and his wife, Cynthia Gilbert, of Nevada City, Calif. She is also survived by three grandchildren, Christopher Hooper and his wife, Kristina Hooper; Elizabeth Hooper Bala and her husband, Raja Bala; and Stuart Shires; five great-grandchildren, and her niece, Susan Judkins Gibson of Novato, Calif. She was predeceased by her brother, Tod Judkins.