Shirley Darcy Escudero, a former Greenwich resident for over thirty-five years, died peacefully on August 4, 2022, at the Nathaniel Witherell Home with her devoted son Carlos holding her hand and her ever-caring aide Carlene Green softly singing “You’ve Got a Friend” as Shirley let go her last breath. After bravely enduring a degenerative illness for two years, Shirley was at last given the grace of a gentle exit from her long and fruitful life of 93 years.
Born on December 13, 1928, in Sydney, Australia to Harry and Mildred Darcy, Shirley was graduated from high school t and studied business and bookkeeping in secretarial school in Sydney. She was a curious and adventurous young woman who in spite of danger and her mother’s disapproval, often swam far out in the ocean off coastal Australia. At the age of twenty-four, she decided to visit relatives in the United States and her father who was working
in Honduras. In Tegucigalpa, she worked in the U.S. Embassy where she met her future husband, AP correspondent, Carlos Escudero, on assignment in Central America. After marrying in Honduras, the couple drove the Pan American Highway in a 1953 Jaguar to Mexico and to New York City where Mr. Escudero worked at the Rockefeller Center AP office. A year later, Shirley gave birth to Carlos Jr. and the couple moved to North Stamford and then to Greenwich where they raised their family. Mr. Escudero predeceased Shirley in 1991.
Shirley, a working mother, found her calling as the secretary to Pastor George Pera of the First Presbyterian Church of Greenwich where she continued to work for twenty-six years before retiring in 1998. At the church, Shirley acquired lifelong friends and a strong support network particularly among those who like Shirley often cooked and delivered meals for homebound parishioners and those in need of care. She was also known among her closest friends as an impeccable homemaker and skilled seamstress. Highly organized and productive up through the time of her illness in 2019, Shirley often made exquisitely hand knit scarves and wraps for friends and family. Having become a U.S. citizen, Shirley, at 91, was determined to cast her mail-in ballot for Joe Biden prior to entering assisted living due to her osteoporosis, which resulted in her being an extreme fall risk.
She is survived by her son Carlos Escudero and daughter-in-law Susan J Watson of Greenwich and her son Rick Escudero and daughter-in-law Jennifer Escudero of Plainville, Connecticut.
Shirley’s indomitable will to persevere in the face of terminal illness will be remembered and admired by all those who will miss her sharp wit, giving nature and loving kindness. Rest in peace Shirley. You have swum far from Sydney to your eternal place in the afterlife.
