Shelia Joyce Boocock

It is rare to know someone whose spirit, despite challenges few have faced, remained one of boundless love and empathy; someone who sacrificed the comforts of home for an unfamiliar life a continent and culture away. I knew my grandmother for many things – generosity, curiosity, and unique warmth – qualities that defined a long life of which I was blessed to share a little.

Sheila Joyce Boocock was born on Sept. 7, 1930 in Southampton, Hampshire in southern England. She was the only child of Albert James William Smith and Rosina Edwards Smith.

What might have been a typical childhood in England became increasingly complicated by world events, as England and soon the world at large was caught up in World War II. The war was a tragedy and hardship on a global scale, and as time goes on more of it becomes abstract; pages of history and not lived experience. Sheila lived it, survived it, coming of age in a time defined by the Blitz, rationing, and the uncertainty that each day could be your last.

She would soon meet the love of her life, Russell, and give birth to their only child, Simon, taking on the hard work of raising a child who would go on to exemplify many of the qualities that defined her. She left England behind for the United States, supporting her husband and son as they all contended with making sense of and fitting into a new culture across the Atlantic.

Sheila remained active, playing golf well into her retirement, and cultivating friends. When her husband was diagnosed with Celiac disease, she became deeply involved in organizing communities of people living with the disease at a time years before “gluten-free” was a recognizable concept.

Throughout struggles, both common and personal, she exuded a comfort and quiet strength that lifted those around her. She supported her husband through a battle with cancer and heart disease, one that they won together. Many years later when his time here was coming to an end, she made the most difficult decisions one can make, supporting his wishes when he could not.

Sheila now joins him, having passed away peacefully on Sunday, Sept. 3, 2017, at MorningStar in Fountain Hills. She leaves behind many whose lives she enriched, not the least of which being her only son Simon, his wife, Wendy; her grandchildren, Sean and Patrick, her extended family, countless friends, and feline companions. She lives on in those who knew her, our lives blessed for having had her in them.

Private services were held.