Obituary: Shirley Jean Andersen

Shirley Jean Andersen, a 25-year resident of Port Ludlow, died peacefully on Oct. 20, 2025, at the Liberty Shore Retirement Community in Poulsbo, Washington, after a long bout with Alzheimer’s Disease. Shirley lived a good and productive life.

She celebrated her 96th birthday in March and her 60th wedding anniversary in September. She was born and raised in Shelton, Washington, and graduated from Shelton High School, Class of 1947. Her favorite class was band, in which she played drums and got As. 

Shirley J. Andersen

She was married when she graduated and pregnant with her first daughter, Sheridan. Her husband, Wilbur Pitzer, was recently discharged from the U.S. Navy as gunner’s mate. When Shirley graduated, the family moved to Anderson, California, where Wilb worked as a logging truck driver.

After daughter Rosemary was born they moved back to Washington and lived near Shelton in a cabin on Lake Spencer. Then they moved to Quilcene, where Wilb worked for Buck Mountain Logging and Shirley commuted to a job in a Shelton bank. She soon shortened her commute when she got a job as secretary at the State Shellfish Laboratory at Point Whitney. Shirley and Wilb divorced, and Shirley moved to Seattle where she was hired as the Executive Secretary to the Dean of the College of Fisheries, University of Washington.  While there, in 1965, she married Aven Andersen, a graduate student in the college.   

Eventually, Aven earned his Ph.D. in fisheries science and they moved to Maryland to Aven’s new job at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, University of Maryland (UMd). Shirley found work as a secretary in a big Maryland bank, but left to work at UMd as an Executive Secretary to the Assistant Dean of the College of Education. After seven years, Aven left UMd and went to work for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in Washington, D.C. Then, after 13 years in Maryland, they moved to Juneau, Alaska, where Aven worked in the regional office of NMFS and then at the Auke Bay Laboratory. Shirley quickly found work in Juneau. At first, she worked as a secretary at the Juneau hospital, but soon went back to the academic life and became a secretary for the Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs, University of Alaska Southeast. She was soon promoted and became the Executive Secretary for the Chancellor of the University of Alaska Southeast; he was the first of the four Chancellors she worked for. Shirley retired in 1997, and Aven followed in 1998.  

In 1999, they moved to Port Ludlow to be near most of their families as well as Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains. They knew the area well. In the early 1940s, Aven visited his aunt, uncle, and cousins when his mother brought him to Port Ludlow on the Edmonds-Port Ludlow ferry. His uncle drove a logging truck for Pope and Talbot. Shirley knew the area from living in Quilcene and then, in the 1970s, daughter Rosemary worked for Pope Resources managing conferences. Shirley’s four granddaughters also worked in Port Ludlow helping with bookkeeping and waiting and bussing tables in the Admiralty Restaurant.

Shireley’s work allowed her to meet several notable people. At the shellfish lab, she met Admiral Hyman Rickover, the father of the nuclear submarine, who stopped by the lab while he was visiting the nearby U. of Washington Applied Physics Lab station, which monitored tests of submarines and torpedoes in Hood Canal. At the College of Fisheries, she met King Olaf of Norway, who was visiting Ballard and the college. That’s where she also met Dr. Victor Nikolski, a famous Russian fisheries scientist, who was visiting;  she even drove him in her car, which amazed him that a secretary could own a car. And last, but not least, she met Prince Phillip of England at the college. Not bad for a girl who grew up in Shelton.

Shirley’s main interest outside of work was her and Aven’s families. But she had an active social and recreational life. In Maryland, she got involved with some neighbor ladies in a gourmet cooking club and also learned how to Tole paint. In Juneau, she started an artificial flower business she called Elegant Stems. She provided flower arrangements for university functions and table flowers for Juneau restaurants. She and Aven owned a 32-foot Bayliner and spent many days exploring the waters of Southeast Alaska, fishing, crabbing, and beachcombing. Her prize catch was a 130-pound halibut she caught during a salmon derby. They used the boat to entertain family and friends, including several from Maryland. Once in Port Ludlow, Shirley volunteered as a seller of display ads for the Port Ludlow Voice, was active as a decorator for a dinner group, the Free Spirits, and served as membership chair for the Olympic Peninsula Mycological Society when Aven was president. She also kept in contact with her classmates in the Shelton Class of 1947.

Shirley is survived by her husband Aven, daughter Rosemary, four granddaughters, four great-granddaughters and two great-grandsons. In her memory, Shirley would appreciate you considering a donation to the Shelton High School Band, 3737 N Shelton Spring DR, Shelton, WA  98584.