Elizabeth Ann Shier
In Memoriam: Elizabeth Ann Hull Shier (nee Morris) 24 August, 1922- 9 March, 2012
It is with sadness that we record the passing of Elizabeth Shier (nee Morris) in March, 2012, at the age of 89, following a period of illness. Born and schooled in Kimberley, she was the first in her family to obtain a university degree. She was a student at Rhodes during the Second World War, and graduated with a Postgraduate Diploma in Personnel Welfare and Management in 1946, having previously completed a BA degree. Her subjects included Economics (where she was lectured by Professor Hobart Houghton) and Social Anthropology (where she was particularly inspired by her lecturer, Professor Jack Krige). She also studied Psychology.
She met her future husband, the late Brian Shier in 1944, while she was studying and he was an instructor with the South African Air Force at 44 Air School, Grahamstown, having previously served in the theatre of war ‘up North’. They married on August 6th 1945 – the day the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. For the rest of their 66 years of married life this event was somehow always a backdrop to their anniversaries.
After the War Elizabeth worked as a Personnel Officer for the shoe firm, Mobbs, in Port Elizabeth, and later ran the office for her husband’s fledgling building company for a short while. She lived in Port Elizabeth for the rest of her life, always concerned with social issues, and with the residents of the nearby Walmer Township in particular. She was a long-standing and faithful member of the Anglican church of St John the Baptist in Walmer, and later in life was involved in the Quiet Gardens Association holding ‘quiet days’ where she lived. For a period she was active (with Brian), in Marriage Encounter.
She leaves a daughter, Judith (Rhodes 1970-1974) married to Jeremy Grest (Rhodes 1969-1973) and their two sons, Simon and Adam; and a son, Andrew married to Lynn, and their three sons, Timothy, Michael and James.
Written by: Judith Shier
