Anna Jaeger Shifman

Anna Marie (Jaeger) Shifman died at her home last Saturday, December 31, in Louisiana, Missouri at age 83, after a long illness. She was born to Dr. James Rudolph and Mable (Kohankie) Jaeger in Denver, Colorado on October 2, 1928. Her father was the first neurosurgeon in the Rocky Mountain Region. Anna resided in Denver until 1943 when the family moved to Pennsylvania, where her father established the Neurosurgery Department at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. There, Anna attended Lower Merion High School, and after graduating from there and from Blackstone College, Blackstone, Virginia she married her first husband, Homer H. Hewitt. Anna accompanied Homer to Cambridge, Massachusetts where he studied law at Harvard. As a young lawyer, Homer joined his father's Philadelphia law firm, and the couple lived on the nearby Main Line. The marriage produced two daughters, Lorie Linn and Gayle Suzanne, before ending in divorce. In 1969 Anna married Joseph Shifman, a widower, who also had two children. Joe is an engineer, who was a pioneer in computer development, and who worked at the Burroughs Corporation research facility on the Main Line. After moving to corporate headquarters in Detroit, Michigan, Joe was promoted to head engineering product development in the United Kingdom and Anna and Joe made their way to Guildford, Surrey, England. Subsequently, they returned to America and lived in Birmingham, Michigan (twice) and on Long Island, New York. Joe retired in 1981 and given the choice, Anna selected Pike County, Missouri as their retirement home. Clarksville had been her beloved father's birthplace and Anna had always enjoyed her frequent visits. The Jaeger family had farmed there since 1857 and the many relatives still living there provided a warm and welcoming environment. Their home on the river bluff in Louisiana and the opportunity to mix the busy life there with frequent world travels and visit to their scattered children have enriched Anna's and Joe's retirement years. Anna is survived by her husband; her daughters, Lorie Hewitt of Olympia, Washington and Gayle Hewitt of Greenville, South Carolina; her stepchildren, Joel Shifman of Augusta, Maine and Sarah Ann Lay of Sydney, Australia, Six grandsons, One granddaughter and a great-grandson. Memorial services will be held at 10:00 A.M. Monday, January 9, 2012 at the Calvary Episcopal Church in Louisiana. The Rev. Pat Glenn will officiate. Memorial tributes may be given to Pike County Health Department, Home Care & Hospice or to the Alzheimer's Association in care of Collier Funeral Homes, Inc., 117 Barnard Drive, Louisiana, M0 633563