Danielle Shing Shaw Gettelfinger's Obituary
Danielle Shing Shaw Gettelfinger died December 7, 2014, after a two year battle with lung cancer. Born December 8, 1944, in Mainland China, she was diagnosed with polio at age one and a half. Hospitalized in Hangkou, China, for 18 months, she was nursed back to health by her family and an American missionary doctor. In a body cast for a period of time and eventually cured, that experience with polio fostered in her a lifelong respect for medicine. Her father, a Colonel in the Nationalist Army, by then a civilian, fled with her family to Taiwan in 1949 just before the Communist takeover, leaving from Guangzhou on one of the last possible boats. Raised in Taiwan, she eventually immigrated to the United States. Working in New York City for a time, she came to Memphis at the urging of a Taiwanese friend who had opened Formosa Chinese Restaurant. Her friend introduced her to Dr. Tom Gettelfinger, who in 1978 had just returned from a medical trip to China, thus beginning 36 years of companionship and marriage. Shing worked for the Commerce General Company, National Bank of Commerce, and SunTrust Bank, retiring some years ago. Considered a great beauty, and always meticulously dressed, she was an excellent cook, gardener, and in later year tango dancer. She reveled in the garden of her home on the river bluff overlooking the Mississippi River in downtown Memphis. As well as her husband, Dr. Tom Gettelfinger, she is survived by two brothers and sisters, Dorothy Wu (Fong) of Phoenix AZ, Steve Shau (Jennifer) of Wayne, NJ, David Shau (Julie) of Queens, NY, and Stella Andrews (Frank) of Township of Washington, NJ. Shing’s illness was made easier to bear by the attention of her brothers and sisters who rotated in coming to Memphis, assisting in her care for the last five months of her life. She died peacefully at home with family and her husband. She was loved and will be missed inconsolably. In lieu of flowers donations may be sent to a charity of your choice. A memorial service will be held at First Unitarian Church of the River, 292 Virginia Avenue West, downtown Memphis, Saturday, December 13, at 10 AM, with a reception to follow.
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