Shirley Taschenberg
Shirley Taschenberg, age 91, of Rutherfordton, North Carolina, died Jan. 23, 2017 at SECU Hospice House, Forest City, North Carolina, from complications following a stroke. She was born in Lorain, Ohio on Feb. 20, 1925 to Margaret and Horace Smith.
Shirley graduated from the music department at Fredonia Teachers’ College, as it was then known, in 1946. She taught music at schools in Fredonia and Dunkirk, and piano lessons in her home on Forbes Street. She was also an accomplished cellist.
Shirley was a passionate and prolific oil painter. She enjoyed teaching painting classes in oils and watercolors to budding artists in Fredonia, Jacksonville, Florida and Rutherfordton, North Carolina.
Shirley and her husband, Fred, moved to Jacksonville, Florida after having resided in Fredonia for over 50 years. Following her husband’s death, Shirley relocated to Rutherfordton, North Carolina.
Fred preceded her in death in 2002. She is survived by her daughter, Ellen Minor and soninlaw Donald Minor of Litchfield, England and daughter Sharon Taschenberg and soninlaw John Cunningham of Quincy, California; three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Private services are planned. Interment was in Forest Hill Cemetery. Arrangements by David J. Dengler, LARSON-TIMKO Funeral Home.