Shirley Anne Eagan (Kincaid)
1942-2023

Shirley A. Eagan died peacefully on October 19th, 2023 at the age of 81 after enduring a long illness with grace and dignity. Born and raised in Syracuse, NY, she was a graduate of West Genesee High School. She earned her bachelor’s degree at SUNY Potsdam and a master’s degree at Bowling Green State University. She found her creative outlet and long term career in teaching, first with the Jamesville-DeWitt Central School District and then in the Perrysburg (Ohio) School District for a total of 32 years. Shirley poured her energy into teaching sixth graders the necessary skills, but always found time to enrich her classroom with a deep sense of fun. She brought Ancient Egypt alive with hands-on projects, held class-wide backgammon tournaments, taught outdoor education at a local camp, and helped countless students grasp math concepts with her novel lessons. Her love of teaching was additionally fueled by her strong bond with many, many teacher friends.

Her beautiful, dedicated marriage with Tom crossed the 59-year mark in August. Together they had two children, Thom and Melissa. Many of their happiest memories together were spent on the shores of Skaneateles Lake. Year-after-year Shirley and her husband Tom welcomed family and friends to their lakeside home for big meals, water fun and nights of cards, games or campfires. She and Tom also found joy on Marco Island, Florida where they delighted in seafood meals, cooled off by the pool and gathered with relatives and friends.

She was a proud grandmother to eleven grandchildren. Grandma Shirley packed her home with vintage toys, games, crafts and comics to entertain her grandchildren. She baked chocolate chip cookies, made umpteen Halloween costumes, picked the perfect birthday presents, knitted afghans and stayed up-to-date on the details of all eleven grandchildren’s lives.

Shirley easily connected to others with her kind, chatty personality. She was known for lengthy, late-night phone calls with sisters or friends, caring text messages, and thoughtful Facebook comments. She cherished visiting family and friends’ homes in states stretching from Ohio to Maine and New York to Florida. And with certainty, there was always good, plentiful conversation whenever Shirley was around.

Like a piece in her treasured pottery collection, she will be admired and loved by all those she touched throughout her life. She was predeceased by her parents, Curtis and Hazel Kincaid and brother-in-law, Brian Elwell. She is survived by her husband Thomas Eagan; sisters, Diane Elwell, Kari (Kevin) McGrew; children, Thomas (Tammy) Eagan, Melissa (Bill) Novak; grandchildren, Isabella Eagan, Ryan Eagan, Maria Eagan, Aaron Eagan, Blake Eagan, Brooklyn Eagan, Grayson Eagan, Alexander Novak, Sophia Novak, Ian Novak, Isaac Novak; brothers & sisters in-law, nieces, nephews, cousins and many dear friends.

There will be a memorial service on Saturday, November 4th from 11am-1pm at the Miller Funeral Home of Victor, 301 West Main Street, Victor, NY. The family will greet guests from 11am-12:30pm, with a time of sharing from 12:30-1pm. Following the memorial, please join the family for a lunch held at Ravenwood Golf Club in Victor. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to SUNY Potsdam (Fund for Scholarships) at Potsdam.edu/give, The Perrysburg Schools Foundation at Perrysburgschoolsfoundation.org, Multiple Myloma Research Foundation at themmrf.org, or URMC Palliative Care (Sussman Palliative Care Unit 4-1200) at URMC.Rochester.edu/medicine/palliative-care.