Emily Ellen Shade

Emily Shade, 85

Emily Shade, 85, passed away at home in Frostproof, FL on June 28, 2024.  She was a longtime resident of Salisbury, MD until 2020.

Emily was born in Brooklyn, NY on October 30, 1938, the same night of Orson Welles’ famous “War of the Worlds” radio broadcast. Her family soon made its way to Berlin, MD, beginning her love of the Eastern Shore. Her father’s work in the poultry business led her to North Carolina, Illinois, Virginia, and New York. Emily attended St. John’s Episcopal Hospital School of Nursing in Brooklyn, completing the program in 1959, followed by a long and rewarding career helping others. Emily’s work included pediatric intensive care, Cystic Fibrosis research, pediatric pulmonology research, and private duty. Emily’s final stop was her most rewarding, as a nurse at Coastal Hospice, from where she retired in 1999. Emily maintained many close bonds with her former Hospice coworkers well after retirement.

Outside of nursing she continued her service to others, including volunteering for Pets on Wheels to bring the family’s Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Misty, to nursing home residents, and St. Peter’s Church soup kitchen. Emily was also a longtime member of P.E.O.

Emily married her husband Robert on Valentine’s Day in 1976 and they spent most of their life together close to the water. Never a summer went by without being on the Chesapeake Bay or Sinepuxent Bay fishing for flounder or camping at Assateague Island State Park where Emily and Robert volunteered for many years and helped with the Friends of Assateague Island State Park. Emily and Robert also spent many winters surrounded by turquoise waters in Big Pine Key, FL. Emily deeply cherished sharing her love of the water and beaches with her son’s daughters, Lena and Hannah. In 2007 she and her husband move to Frostproof, FL where she enjoyed golf and bingo with her friends at Lakemont Park.

She is predeceased by her father, Frank Montgomery, Mother, Florence Clarke, and her dear husband of 45 years, Robert Shade. Survivors include her son Kevin (Courtney) Shade, her beloved grandchildren, Lena and Hannah, all of Dallas, TX, and God-Daughter Lynn Butte (Kurt) of Island Park, NY.

Emily will be laid to rest next to your husband at St. Paul’s Cemetery in Berlin, MD in the shadow of the house she grew up in.  Arrangements will be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Coastal Hospice (PO Box 1733, Salisbury, MD 21802-1733) or St. Peter’s Episcopal Church (115 St. Peter's Street, Salisbury, MD 21801).