Former Livingston resident Shirley Lou Miller Eastman died on November 1, 2016 on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, after a long struggle with Lewy body disease. Shirley was born on January 30, 1931 in Bellingham, Washington, and grew up in Seattle. She received a bachelor of arts degree in communications and journalism with honors in 1953 from the University of Washington, where she was a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, Mortar Board, and the Theta Sigma Phi journalism honorary society. She married James Eastman in 1953; she worked at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer until their first child was born in 1955. In 1965, the family moved to Livingston, where Shirley was active in many organizations, such as the PTA, the Cub Scouts, the Girl Scouts, and the Presbyterian Church of Livingston. When she decided to return to journalism, she worked at the West Essex Tribune in Livingston, the Millburn Item, and the Morris County Daily Record in Morristown. Shirley and her husband retired to Cotuit, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod in 1996, where she continued to work as a writer, freelancing for the Cape Cod Times, Prime Time, and Cape Cod Life. She was a member and served as president of the Cape Cod Writers’ Center and interviewed authors on the television series “Books and the World.” She wrote the book Osterville, published by Arcadia as part of the series Images of America. Throughout her life, Shirley offered her talents as a musician to many organizations. She accompanied the choir at the Presbyterian Church of Livingston and was a substitute service pianist/organist there and at the Church of Christ, Scientist in Livingston. She was a member of the choir at the Cotuit Federated Church. Shirley is survived by her husband, Jim; their three children, Carol Theil (Karl), Linda Field (Curtis), and Jay; and four grandchildren. Shirley always loved animals, and adopted several family pets from local shelters. The family asks that memorial donations be sent to the Massachusetts SPCA’s Capital Campaign at 1577 Falmouth Road, Centerville, MA 02632 (www.mspca.org/capecampaign); or to the Cape Cod Writers’ Center, P.O. Box 408, Osterville, MA 02655; or to the Cotuit Federated Church, P.O. Box 436, Cotuit, MA 02635. For the online guestbook, visit www.johnlawrencefunerlahome.com.
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