Fremont nurse co-owned doll shop
3/28/2004FREMONT - Shirley Elaine Eborg, a former assistant director of nursing at Fremont Memorial Hospital who also co-owned a doll and gift shop with her sisters, died of a brain aneurysm Friday in Memorial Hospital.
She was 77.
She began working at the hospital in 1959.
Over her career, she cared for patients in the surgery, cardiac care, and emergency departments.
"It takes a special kind of person to be that unselfish and totally giving, and she was that special kind of person," daughter Michelle Burley said.
The cardiac care unit opened in the 1960s, and Mrs. Eborg took courses at Bowling Green State University.
When she was in the emergency department, she set up a network of friends at church who would take in children whose parents had been injured in traffic accidents.
She retired as assistant director of nursing in 1988.
"She had gone from hands-on patient care to administration," her daughter said.
As assistant director, she was able to help every patient in the hospital, making rounds on each floor to check on them.
"She knew who was in that hospital when, knew their condition, and what needed to be done to help them," her daughter said.
After Mrs. Eborg retired, she and her three sisters opened the Enchanted Moment Doll and Gift Shoppe Museum/Gallery, where they sold and repaired antique and collector's dolls.
Mrs. Burley said her mother and aunts always loved dolls, but during the Depression they only had one each.
"As they got older, they finally got to live their childhood and have as many dolls as they wanted," she said.
The former Shirley Stiger was born June 1, 1926, in Seneca County's Pleasant Township and graduated from Old Fort High School in 1944.
After high school, she studied nursing at the Toledo Hospital School of Nursing while serving in the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps.
Later, she worked as a registered nurse for Drs. Howard Yost and Ervin Koons.
In 1948, she married Robert E. Eborg. He died in 2002.
Mrs. Eborg was a member of Grace Lutheran Church, where she was active in the altar guild, served on the church council, taught Sunday school, and volunteered with Lutheran Social Services.
She belonged to the Ohio and the American Nurse Associations, the Firelands Lake Erie Tourist Council, and the Memorial Hospital Auxiliary and Tree of Life.
Surviving are her daughter, Michelle M. Burley; sisters, Jean A. Berlekamp and Myrna L. Riedel, and two grandchildren.
The body will be in the Keller-Ochs-Koch Funeral Home after 2 p.m. today.
Services will be at 1 p.m. tomorrow in the funeral home, following a visitation that begins at noon.
The family suggests tributes to the Grace Lutheran Church Organ Refurbishing Fund or a charity of the donor's choice.