Obituary of Shirley Mitteer

Shirley May Mitteer (Sprague) went home to the Lord on Sunday, January 1, 2017 in her winter home in Zephyrhills, Florida, surrounded by family. Shirley was born on July 7, 1924 in Liberty, New York to Stephen S. and Violet R. Sprague. She graduated in 1942 from Liberty High School and attended New York State College for Teachers in Albany for two years, She was widowed from William Michael Matteson in 1967 and married widower, D, Richard Mitteer the following year. Together they shared 38 happy years and a blended family of 9 children. After marrying Dick, Shirley moved with her brood to the Mitteer's Pennyroyal Farm in Hurleyville, New York. They sold the farm in 1985, and Shirley retired from Sullivan County National Bank in 1986. They bought a summer retirement home in Deposit, New York and a winter home in Zephyrhills, Florida and began migrating with the birds.

Shirley was the definition of "super mom." After working all day at the bank, she would hurry home to prepare dinner, weed the garden, gather the cows, and help with the milking. She canned, baked, kept house, helped with barn chores, and with homework. She and Dick were members of the Hurleyville Methodist Church while on the farm and attended first the Deposit Methodist Church, and then the Deposit Presbuterian Church and First Christian Church in Zephyrhills after retirement. In 2010 Shirley moved from Deposit to a beautiful home in Neversink, New York that her daugher, Meigan and son-in-law, Arden Dean built for her on their property. She continued to live independently in Neversink during summers and in Zephyrhills in the winter. She exercised and walked every day, at first unaided, then with a cane, then a walker, and toward the end with both a walker and a companion. In 2012, Shirley formally joined First Christian Church which she had grown to love.

Shirley is survived by her children, Leslie Joseph, Edgar Matteson, Nella Looney, and Meigan Dean, and step children, Brian Mitteer, Marilyn Curie, Christine Paddock, Joyce Babcock, and Glen Mitteer, 34 grandchildren, and 17 great grandchildren. She was predeceased by her parents, all three brothers (Wes, Budge, and Clint), two grandsons, Michael Kortright and Mathew Kern, and the great love of her life, D. Richard Mitteer.

Arrangements under the direction of Colonial Bryant Funeral Home, 396 State Route 52, Woodbourne, NY 12788.