Shirley June McGuire Arno

Shirley June McGuire Arno passed away peacefully on Saturday, November 11, 2023, at the age of 92. Shirley was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on August 16, 1931, where she lived with her father and sister having lost her mother at around age 5. Shirley attended an all-girls school and according to one school article in her junior year, she was described as gaining the staunch friendship of all through her winning smile and genial personality. Early on she professed to have a desire to become a nurse to China, but this was not realized in God’s plan for her life; however, she did realize her goal of becoming a nurse years later. Shirley was a woman of faith who accepted Jesus as her Savior after attending a Billy Graham crusade She worked with the salvation army with young people groups and camps, before being called to the mission fields at age 19 where she served in Brazil and Nicaragua for three terms. Later in life, Shirley and her husband Burton felt the call to return to Nicaragua again to hand out copies of one of the greatest gospel tracts, the “Father’s Love letter.” They worked to have the tracts translated into Spanish, Portuguese, and a mosquito Indian dialect. Shirley, seeing a need to reach children, designed a copy of the tract specifically for children, and distributed these. FAMILY AND FRIENDS Shirley met her husband, Burton, while at New Tribes Mission Bootcamp in Northern California and later married in Brazil in 1953. Shirley and Burt celebrated 70 years of marriage this past August and were devoted to each other. Burt stayed by Shirley’s side these last two weeks as she suffered this health crisis. Together they raised four children: Jon, Mark, Norrie (Kitty,) and Jonna. They were blessed with seven grandchildren (Michelle, Jon, Charley, Amanda, Rachel, April, and Logan) and up to now, 9 great grandchildren (Brandon, Liam, Laina, Keegan, Cason, Landry, Asher, Abel, and Ava. Plus #10 is on the way!) Shirley was an amazing wife, mother, sister, daughter, aunt, grandmother, great grandmother, nurse, friend, and missionary. She loved and cared for not just her immediate family, but her extended family as well, keeping up with siblings, nieces, and nephews. Shirley was selfless, kind and loving, a giver with a servant’s heart, curious and always wanting to be on the go, a child at heart all the way to 92 years old. She loved to travel all throughout her life, including her beloved Prince Edward Island in Canada. In her 50s, Shirley received two bachelor’s degrees and one master’s degree in nursing, going on to serve as a nurse practitioner and fulfilling her childhood dream. She worked at Florida State Hospital as a nurse consultant for geriatric services for about 20 years; her work included working with patients with Alzheimer’s, until she retired in her late 70s. Like their mother/grandmother, three grandchildren and one daughter are an RN, and one daughter is a nurse practitioner as well. She was the best of us, beautiful inside and out, and no one loved us or prayed over us like she did. Every single time one of her family would leave her house, she would walk us out to our vehicle and watch us until we were out of sight, silently praying for us until we were gone. She will be terribly missed, but we are so thrilled that she is in the presence of the Lord and has now been reunited with her mother and father and other family members. A graveside service will be held at 1:00PM EST on Thursday, November 16, 2023, at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in Chattahoochee. Kelly Barber of Bevis Funeral Home (850-385-2193 or www.bevisfh.com) is assisting the Arno family with their arrangements.

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Shirley June McGuire Arno

August 16, 1931 - November 11, 2023