 VANDERGUST, SHIRLEY May 30, 1931 January 13, 2015 Shirley Ann Vandergust (Chuck) 83, in peace and with family around her, left this world for the next on January 13, after a short illness. Shirley Ann Bethman was born to Hazel Nadis Bethman and Frederick Jacob Bethman in Oak Park, Illinois. She graduated from Proviso High School in 1949 and married her high school sweetheart Al Vandergust in 1951. When Al was called to serve in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War, Shirley followed him to his base in San Diego, and lived there while he served two tours of duty. The first and second of their family of six children were born there. After Al finished his service, they returned to the Chicago area and lived there until 1968, when they moved their family to Los Alamos, New Mexico. Shirley began working at Los Alamos National Laboratory as a "casual" employee in 1970 and was hired on permanently shortly thereafter. She fulfilled a lifelong dream of higher education by returning to school and earning an Associate's degree, eventually becoming a paralegal aide in the Laboratory Council office of LANL, where she worked until she retired in 1997. Early in her career she acquired the nickname "Chuck" by which she was known for most of her career at LANL and by her family. All of her life she was a passionate supporter of higher education and a lifelong learner. In retirement, she traveled extensively throughout the United States and Canada. She frequently traveled with family and also by herself, with her beloved Pomeranian Cherokee for company. She was an enthusiastic participant in an expedition to the Holy Land with Calvary Christian Church, and with independent private tour companies to Machu Picchu, Peru, Paris and Alsace-Lorraine. She eventually settled in Albuquerque in Ventana Ranch and continued to travel to visit relatives to visit and cook the meals that all of us remembered and enjoyed. Her greatest joy later in life was the births of her twelve grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. That love of little ones also kept her active as a benefactor of Joy Junction in Albuquerque. A small miracle occurred in 2013 when she was reacquainted with her niece, Sondra Fay, of Seattle, Washington, whom she had not seen since Sondra's babyhood. She was preceded in death by her parents; by her daughter, Vicki, in 1970, her beloved husband Al in 1980, her granddaughter, Erin Wood in 1998 and her brother Lloyd Bethmann in 2001. She is survived by her daughters Valerie Wood (spouse Butch) and Ellen Ballard (Evan) of Los Alamos; Leslie Monagle (Matthew) of Albuquerque; by sons A. R. Vandergust (Janet Smith) of Terrebonne, Oregon and Eric Vandergust (Aimee Garcia) of Houston, Texas, and her niece, Sondra Fay, of Seattle, Washington; by grandsons Steven Vandergust, Jason Vandergust (Kari Niebauer), Douglas Wood, Levi Monagle and Noah Monagle; by granddaughters Christine Ballard, Diane Wood Gordon (Matt Gordon), Alaina Vandergust, Nicole Vandergust, Alyssa Vandergust and Emily Vandergust; by great-grandsons Gentry Gordon, Kai Gordon and Gavin Vandergust; by numerous friends from high school, Chicago and LANL; and by the many children she encountered throughout the years to whom she became "Grandma Chuck." Shirley's family has entrusted her final care to French Mortuary in Albuquerque. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Joy Junction, P.O. Box 27693, Albuquerque, NM 87125 We will miss her quick and quirky sense of humor, her unceasing generosity and the bravery and grace with which she faced the limitations of age. Bon Voyage, Chuck, from all of us on your final journey.
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