Shirley Whitney Obituary

Whitney

Shirley (Palermo) Whitney

January 30, 1945

November 10, 2021



Shirley I. (Palermo) Whitney was born on January 30, 1945, in Cumarebo, Venezuela, where her parents, Anthony and Alice lived. Shirley's father, Tony, worked for Creole Petroleum which was a subsidiary of Standard Oil of New Jersey and the largest producer of oil until 1951.



Shirley's childhood was spent in Venezuela until the family moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1959. She graduated from Cheyenne Mt. High School and attended the University of Colorado. She married Christopher Whitney in 1967 and later divorced. She is predeceased by her parents and by her older brother, Norman A. Palermo of Colorado Springs. She is survived by her daughter, Beth and husband Clarence, her sister, Wanda J. (Palermo) Tieman and husband Bill and her sister-in-law, Wynne Palermo.



Shirley and Beth moved to Rolling Meadows, IL, in 1980 where Shirley worked as an executive assistant for the Siemens Corporation and later for the Arlington Park International Racecourse. She lived in Rolling Meadows, IL, until she passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on November 10, 2021, at the age of 76. She established a long-lasting friendship there with many co-workers and neighbors with whom she was always kind, gracious, and fun. She had a wonderful sense of humor and a ready smile and positive word.



She was a devoted mother and taught her daughter by example to dream big. Shirley was always up for fun and an adventure. Over the years she traveled extensively throughout the United States and the world, backpacking through Europe, touring Stonehenge, exploring Swiss salt mines, hiking the Panama Canal, and visiting Hong Kong.



Shirley and Wanda were very close sisters, having grown up together in the 1950's in a company town on Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela. It was always fun to listen to them reminisce about many stories of their adventures as kids.



Shirley loved life, reading, traveling, dogs, gardening and even house cleaning! She was an incredible person and the light in our world has dimmed with her sudden passing.