Shirley Anne Sloth

Shirley Anne Sloth, age 89, passed away on January 17, 2025.

Shirley was born on December 15, 1935, in Ravenna, Ohio.

Shirley was the youngest child of the late Dr. Earl Maier and Caroline Maier. During her youth, Shirley witnessed and assisted her father in helping those in need within his practice. From this experience, Shirley developed an interest in compassionately helping others and chose a career in nursing. 

Shirley began her college career at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. A bright student, Shirley favored courses in chemistry and Latin, indicating that “they were easy ‘A’s.” Shirley then transferred to Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, where she attained her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1957. This conferment with her graduating class represented the successful completion of one of the earliest four-year degree nursing programs in the country and pioneered the way for higher standards and recognition in the profession.

 Her professional career began as a surgical nurse at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. However, it was her position as a neonatal and newborn/delivery nurse at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights that dominated her thirty-five-year professional career and was her true calling. 

Along with working at the hospital, Shirley taught intensive care nursing as an Adjunct Professor at Evanston Hospital and pharmacology as an Adjunct Professor at Harper College. She often spoke of how much she loved her work and instilled in her children and grandchildren the ethics of pursuing higher education and a meaningful career. 

From a young age, Shirley always desired a large family. Shirley met her husband, Harry, at a dance and told her girlfriend that evening that this was the man she intended to marry. Shirley and Harry married, had seven children and were wedded sixty-two years. Her children and grandchildren were her true labor of love. Whenever a child or grandchild stopped by her home, Shirley stopped whatever she was doing, put a pot roast or other meal in the oven, and then talked and laughed through the wee hours with her family. That vein of love and laughter extended to Shirley’s daughters-in-law, sons-in-law, other family members, colleagues, friends, and caregivers. 

While Shirley’s ever-present flower in her hair was her signature mark, it was truly her love and care for all that is her lasting, sustaining thread.

Shirley is survived by her loving children, Christian (Nancy) Sloth, Marilyn (Peter) Rowley, Sharon (Mark) Schindler, Eric (Julie) Sloth, Mary (Michael) Gasparac, John Sloth, and Tim (Soula) Sloth; cherished grandchildren, Cara Sloth, Connor Sloth, Matthew Rowley, Hannah Sloth, Natalia Schindler, Trevor Sloth, Christian Rowley, Maria Schindler, Thomas Gasparac, James Rowley, Evan Gasparac, Joanna Sloth, and Christiana Sloth; and great-grandchildren, Sophia Gerosa and Leonydis Levrie-Pena.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Dr. Earl Cecil Maier and Caroline Helen Maier, her sister, Sister Bernadette (Marilyn) Maier, and her brother, Dr. Earl Maier.

A visitation for Shirley will be held from 8:30 am until the time of mass at 10:30 am on Friday, January 31, 2025, at St. Anne Catholic Community, 120 Ela Street, Barrington, Illinois. Burial to follow at Evergreen Cemetery in Barrington, Illinois.