Grace Shaeffer Atkins, October 3, 1914 – April 29, 2014.
Grace Shaeffer Atkins, in her 100th year, died peacefully surrounded by her loving family at her home in Chelsea, Michigan on April 29, 2014.
She was born at her family home on the banks on the Manatee River in Ellenton, Florida on Oct. 3, 1914. Her parents, Charlie and Hattie Shaeffer, were pioneers in that region. Her father discovered and managed a fullers earth clay mine, then used in the refinement of gasoline.
Gracie, as her family called her, was the youngest of five siblings: Lenore, Elizabeth, Francis, and Charlie. The family later moved to Bainbridge, Georgia where she completed high school and then earned a degree in studio art from Huntington College in Montgomery, Alabama.
On Nov. 15, 1941, she married Lieutenant Daniel Ewell Atkins, Jr. in Milledgeville, Georgia. Within the year, Ewell was called to active duty in WW II in the South Pacific for almost four years. Shortly after he left, their first son Daniel Ewell Atkins, III was born. While waiting for her husband’s return she was a mother, supported the war effort, and lived with family members in various parts of the South. United with Ewell on Christmas 1945, they moved to Marietta, Georgia where her second son, Edwin Charles Atkins was born. In 1950, the family moved to Wheaton, Maryland where Ewell had a career with the Veterans Administration in Washington, DC.
Grace nurtured her family and friends, taught kindergarten, and was active in her church. She was a role model for dignity, love and honesty. Every Christmas she painted a seasonal mural on the glass storm door of their home that was widely admired. After retirement, Grace and Ewell moved south; first to Greenwood, South Carolina and then to Holmes Beach, Florida. In 2005, she moved to the United Methodist Chelsea Retirement Community for a decade of inspiring living among friends and four generations of family in nearby Ann Arbor and New York City. She continued a passion for baseball, moving her allegiance from the Atlanta Braves to the Detroit Tigers.
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