Shirley was one of the nicest most interesting people I have ever met. I will miss her friendship,
wit and wisdom. Her passing leaves a void in the town and especially in the village of Clintondale that cannot be replaced. As president of the Plattekill Historical Preservation Society she was a tremendous source of experience, knowledge, leadership and inspiration and she did it all, while maintaining a calm demeanor and a wonderful sense of humor. I will be forever grateful for how
she generously gave of her time, knowledge and resources in my pursuit of writing a book
about the Spanish and Puerto Rican villa resorts of Plattekill. At her memorial on Saturday
at the Copeland-Hammerl Funeral Home, I gave a short talk in her honor.
I have included here, as follows.

For Shirley V. Anson Saturday, December 18, 2021 Hello, my name is Ish Martinez. I am one
of the board members of The Plattekill Historical Preservation Society. I have only known Shirley
for about seven years but it feels like so much longer and that's probably because Shirley treated everyone like a dear old friend. When I set out to write my book about the Plattekill villas,
I immediately thought that I should contact the Plattekill Historical Society to possibly help
me with photographs and any other information they might have on that subject. Not knowing
what kind of reception, I might receive, I looked up the association and seeing Shirley listed as the president, I called her with some trepidation, thinking that she might take this as infringing on
their domain. Upon contacting Shirley and introducing myself with an explanation of what my intentions were for a book, I received from Shirley, nothing but a sincere warm welcome, great excitement and a promise of full cooperation with obtaining information and many one-of-a-kind photographs. Needless to say, these things were extremely helpful to me in the writing of the book. And true to her word, along with Town of Plattekill Historian, Libbie Werlau, we met at the Town
Hall to scan photos and that was the start of a wonderful collaboration that resulted in me joining the board of the association based on Shirley’s recommendation. As we worked together in the association it became very obvious very quickly, how much energy and passion Shirley brought
to the association as its long-standing president. I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to say
that Shirley was not only the face of the Plattekill Historical Preservation Society but she was also
its heart and soul. The challenge now will be to continue to do the important work of preserving
the town’s history without the driving force of Shirley Anson. Thank you.