Shirley A. VanValkenburg

Quilter, rug hooker, Title IX activist and retired Kent State University Professor Shirley Ann Van Valkenburg died July 14, 2025 at the age of 88.

Raised in Kalamazoo, Mich., Shirley was the daughter of Clio and Judge J. Wade Van Valkenburg, at one time the Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives.

Early on, Shirley displayed remarkable athletic ability and competitiveness, excelling in tennis, basketball, volleyball and softball on city league teams during her teen years. As she reflected, “I wondered why there were no (athletic) teams for high school girls.” Shirley speculated that the answer might lay with the female physical education teachers. She said these teachers asserted that team sports would harm teen girls “physiologically” and “emotionally.”

In those days, public schools were segregated but the Kalamazoo City Recreation Center was not. It was with the city teams that Shirley had her first opportunity to compete in women’s team sports. Shirley was influenced by Kalamazoo City Recreation Director Helen Coover, who had fought fiercely for city sports teams for young women. Helen made sure that Shirley got on the basketball team, though she was not officially old enough. It was on that team that Shirley met her life-long friend Barbara Roberts, who was five years older. Helen Coover was eventually fired for her outspoken advocacy for sports for girls. Later, Kalamazoo Coover Center was named for her.

Off to college at Western Michigan University, Shirley joined the school’s tennis team, graduating with a BS in Physical Education in 1959. She taught physical education and coached girls in field hockey, basketball and softball at the Beecher High School in Flint, Mich. Shirley took time off to obtain her Master’s degree in 1961 at Penn State University before returning to Beecher School to teach for another year.

In 1963, Shirley came to Ohio, appointed as an instructor of Health and Physical Education at the Kent State University School, teaching physical education to students in grades 4 to 12. The next year, she started teaching the history and philosophy of sports among many other classes in KSU’s Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, coaching tennis, influencing a generation of women. Her professional life at Kent State would last another 27 years.

During her tenure at Kent State University, Shirley was an activist for equality for women and women’s athletics, working toward the 1972 passage of Title IX, a point of great pride for her. In 1975, Shirley and a small courageous group of physical education faculty met with Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) representatives, responding to a Women’s Equality Action League complaint of sex discrimination on campus. It was an action that could have negatively impacted her career on campus. Nonetheless, she and that team pointed out the inequity in funding and opportunities in women’s athletics.

Shirley retired from Kent State University in 1991 as an assistant professor and began the next chapter of her life. Although she continued her interests in women’s athletics, especially women’s tennis, Shirley turned to exploration of her artistic side. Her passion took her into a deep dive of every creative endeavor that interested her, challenging herself to learn the advanced skills and techniques required to produce a unique and high-quality quilt or rug or knitted accessory. Attending countless retreats and workshops, she enjoyed meeting people and developed long-term friendships with fellow crafters. She joined the Buckeye Rugcrafters Guild, the Western Reserve Rug Hookers Guild, and the Fort Laurens Rughooking Guild, quilting guilds, and “hung out” with knitters at KnitWit Knits, and many other groups. She became known for her expertise in the textile arts, generously sharing her knowledge, time and materials with others.

Joy, the beagle, was indeed the joy of Shirley’s life for many years. Joy was a well-known staffer in the Love-on-a-Leash program at Robinson Memorial Hospital. Joy was but one among Shirley’s many canine companions. Shirley enjoyed training her dogs in tracking with tracking expert and friend, Olive, and, of course, plunged in full throttle, entering competitions with the clubs she supported. She was a lover of cats, and many cool cats enjoyed Shirley’s care giving.

An inquisitive mind and avid reader of non-fiction, especially politics, on more subjects than we can count, Shirley could be found haunting her favorite bookstores. “My books are my life!” she asserted. Advanced Sudoku engaged her brain and fingers as she watched her favorite political personalities on TV or any tennis tournament that was televised.

Shirley also developed a devotion to her spiritual aspect. She followed a Native American Indian Guide to learn native ways and eventually became “Crow Woman” from her studies. She soaked up many meditative types of spiritual reading and practice. Her crafting was meditative for her.

Shirley remained single throughout life and was fiercely independent. The sharing of her athletic and creative passions formed the foundation of her chosen family. Her lasting friendships included roomie and colleague, Glenna. Her Michigan family included not only relatives, but also enduring close friendships with fellow athletes from her teen years and Western Michigan, especially her best friend from high school basketball days, Barbara Roberts, whom she missed dearly after Barb’s death in 2011. Barb and Shirley shared a love of books and would indulge in friendly competition when visiting their favorite Kalamazoo bookstore, John W. Rollins Bookseller. Shirley, Barb, Lil, and Mary Louise were a formidable foursome back in the day.

Shirley’s parents, Wade and Clio Van Valkenburg, brother Wade Van Valkenburg Jr., and niece Marcia Van Valkenburg have all passed.

Shirley’s closest living relatives include nephew James (Farah) Van Valkenburg of West Bloomfield, Mich., and their children Noah and Eliot Van Valkenburg; nephew Stanton Van Valkenburg of Minneapolis; Richard Dale, spouse of Marcia (deceased) of Coon Rapids, Minn., and their children Martina Tuckner, Keri Gorbett, and Amy Appel.

In keeping with her wishes, Shirley’s body has been cremated. There will be a celebration of her life on Sunday, Sept. 7, at 2 p.m. at her home. Friends, family, neighbors and former colleagues and students are welcome to bring a lawn chair and celebrate Shirley’s life.

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Although she was a long-time craftsperson, Shirley seldom displayed her work publicly. In March, her textile work will be displayed publicly for the first time. The time and location will be announced later.