By Angela Marshall
Friends say she was always ready to answer the call to do good. She was the beloved sister of Rockville Centre Mayor Eugene Murray.
Mrs. Shelley and her late husband, James, were among the first people Police Commissioner Jack McKeon remembers meeting when he came to work in Rockville Centre. It was the couple's generosity of heart and time that crystallized for McKeon what Rockville Centre was all about. They were incredible, he said, giving money out of their own pockets whenever they heard of someone down on their luck and never looking for it to be returned. They were very, very benevolent people.
Mrs. Shelley and her husband were married for 52 years before his death.
Mrs. Shelley was also there to greet Monsignor Francis Caldwell when he came to the parish 18 years ago. She worked in the parish office for about 30 years, mostly under the leadership of Monsignors Edward Melton and Robert Mulligan.
What made her most special was her generosity of time, enthusiasm and resources to the parish, Caldwell said, remembering fondly the energy Mrs. Shelley put into so many projects over the years. She was practically Mrs. St. Agnes.
In addition to working in the office, Mrs. Shelley was a member of the St. Agnes Rosary Altar Society, past president of the St. Agnes Mothers' Club and the St. Agnes Whites Bowling Kiglerettes of Rockville Centre.
She gave decades of service to fund-raising efforts to benefit the parish and the diocese. Kathleen Mulvey, director of the Bishop's Annual Appeal, recalled the many years she spent working with Mrs. Shelley on the appeal. She was always working, Mulvey said. She gave a tremendous amount of time.
Mrs. Shelley was also a longtime member of the Mercy Leagues of Mercy Medical Center.
In addition to her brother Eugene, Mrs. Shelley is survived by three sisters, Mary Louise, CIJ, Rose Marie Ryan and Ann Walsh; four brothers, Arthur, Morgan, Matthew and Paul; her children, James Jr., Michael and Sheryn Silvestre; and nine grandchildren, David and Amanda Silvestre, Christine Davoli and Keath, Jeanette, Michael, Jaqueline, James J. III and Catlin Shelley. She was predeceased by her husband and four brothers, John, William, Thomas and Edward.
Reposing was at Macken Mortuary, followed by a funeral at St. Agnes Cathedral on Friday, Aug. 1. The homily was given by Monsignor James P. Kelly.
