Beatrice Shelley Was 80, Social Worker, Volunteer

Beatrice Lynch Shelley of Oak Bluffs died unexpectedly Friday, April 2, at the Rhode Island Hospital. She was 80.

She was the daughter of Dennis Lynch and Margaret O'Mahony and was born on December 20, 1923 in County Cork, Ireland. She later emigrated to the US in 1937.

Mrs. Shelley lived in Glenn Falls, New York and received her bachelor of arts degree in education from St. Rose College in Albany, N.Y. in 1946. She was a social worker for the Albany Medical Center.

In 1952 she married William John Shelley and lived in New Rochelle and later Pearl River, N.Y. They moved to Barrington, R.I. and thereafter to Fairhaven. They had a summer house on Pequot avenue and a winter house in the School House Village in Oak Bluffs. Mr. Shelley died in September 1993.

Mrs. Shelley had volunteered at the Martha's Vineyard Hospital and enjoyed playing cards.

She is survived by two sons, William J. Shelley Jr. of Oak Bluffs and Dennis Shelley of Edgartown; a daughter, Mary Ellen Houk of Brattleboro, Vt. and her children, Alex and Jack Houk; two sisters, Catherine Vakiener of Keene, N.H. and Eileen Gallagher of Tarrytown, N.Y. She was predeceased by her son, Joseph Shelley.

Services in Sacred Heart Star of the Sea Church, Oak Bluffs took place on April 8. Donations may be made in her memory to the Martha's Vineyard Hospital, P.O. Box 1477, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557 or to the Star of the Sea Church, P.O. Box 1565, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557.