| Shirley Key Hehmeyer |
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Published in The Commercial Appeal on February 2, 2011
Shirley Key Hehmeyer (92) passed away
peacefully on Sunday, January 31, 2011, during the
early morning in Memphis, TN.
She was born in Louisville, KY, before moving
to Hattiesburg, MS, where she had many relatives.
As a teenager she moved to Washington, DC, with her mother Margaret
Leland Herbine, who had remarried. She was graduated from the noted
Western High School in Georgetown and attended George Washington
University before being called to work on Capitol Hill.
Almost immediately Sen. Harry S. Truman offered her a position
working with him and his colleagues on the prominent wartime “Truman
Committee”. During her work for Sen. Truman she met her future husband,
Mr. Truman’s press secretary and graduate of Yale, Walter Hehmeyer of
Caldwell, NJ. After their marriage she resigned from the committee, but her
husband continued to work as a consultant at the U. S. Senate during the
Vice-Presidency and Presidency of Mr. Truman.
The Hehmeyers remained in Washington where they began their family
with the birth in 1945 of their son Philip Leland Hehmeyer and resided there
during the post-war years. But in 1952 The National Cotton Council offered
Mr. Hehmeyer an executive position, and they moved to Memphis. Their
second son Christopher Key Hehmeyer, born in Memphis in 1955,
completed their family. Both Philip and Chris attended East High School and
were graduated from the University of the South.
Shirley continued as a home-maker, worked in the offices of St. John’s
Episcopal Church, and acquired her real estate broker’s license in 1972 with
the commendation of the highest grade ever achieved.
Walter Hehmeyer served for many years on the Board of Directors of
the Memphis Orchestral Society and became the Symphony’s general
manager in 1974. Shirley was an accomplished pianist and loved music,
particularly jazz music for piano and shared that love with her family and
friends throughout her life.
Following his retirement in 1980, Walter and Shirley moved to Oxford,
MS, and began a time together they truly enjoyed. Walter passed away in
Oxford in 1987, some five years following the tragic suicide of their son
Philip, then chairman of The New York Cotton Exchange.
In 1988 Shirley moved back to Memphis. Shirley's daughter in law, Janis
Hehmeyer (nee Cranny) passed in 2006. Shirley is survived by her son Chris
and his daughter Catherine Leland Hehmeyer and son Christopher Key
Hehmeyer, Jr., all of Chicago.
The family wishes to express its deep gratitude to Shirley’s devoted and
loving friends known as Team Shirley (T. Frank Jackson, Susan Carr
Oppenheimer, and Debbie Hooser) and to the angels sent from heaven who
were her care-givers.
A funeral service will be 11 a.m. Friday, February 4th at St. John’s
Episcopal Church, preceded by visitation at 10 a.m. in the Parish Hall of St.
John’s. Interment will be in Caldwell, NJ.
In lieu of flowers the family requests memorials may be sent to The Boy
Choir at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 3245 Central Ave., Memphis, TN
38111 or to the Golf Course Project at The University of the South, Office
of Development, Sewanee, TN 37375.
Canale Funeral Directors 901-452-6400
Shirley Key Hehmeyer (92) passed away
peacefully on Sunday, January 31, 2011, during the
early morning in Memphis, TN.
She was born in Louisville, KY, before moving
to Hattiesburg, MS, where she had many relatives.
As a teenager she moved to Washington, DC, with her mother Margaret
Leland Herbine, who had remarried. She was graduated from the noted
Western High School in Georgetown and attended George Washington
University before being called to work on Capitol Hill.
Almost immediately Sen. Harry S. Truman offered her a position
working with him and his colleagues on the prominent wartime “Truman
Committee”. During her work for Sen. Truman she met her future husband,
Mr. Truman’s press secretary and graduate of Yale, Walter Hehmeyer of
Caldwell, NJ. After their marriage she resigned from the committee, but her
husband continued to work as a consultant at the U. S. Senate during the
Vice-Presidency and Presidency of Mr. Truman.
The Hehmeyers remained in Washington where they began their family
with the birth in 1945 of their son Philip Leland Hehmeyer and resided there
during the post-war years. But in 1952 The National Cotton Council offered
Mr. Hehmeyer an executive position, and they moved to Memphis. Their
second son Christopher Key Hehmeyer, born in Memphis in 1955,
completed their family. Both Philip and Chris attended East High School and
were graduated from the University of the South.
Shirley continued as a home-maker, worked in the offices of St. John’s
Episcopal Church, and acquired her real estate broker’s license in 1972 with
the commendation of the highest grade ever achieved.
Walter Hehmeyer served for many years on the Board of Directors of
the Memphis Orchestral Society and became the Symphony’s general
manager in 1974. Shirley was an accomplished pianist and loved music,
particularly jazz music for piano and shared that love with her family and
friends throughout her life.
Following his retirement in 1980, Walter and Shirley moved to Oxford,
MS, and began a time together they truly enjoyed. Walter passed away in
Oxford in 1987, some five years following the tragic suicide of their son
Philip, then chairman of The New York Cotton Exchange.
In 1988 Shirley moved back to Memphis. Shirley's daughter in law, Janis
Hehmeyer (nee Cranny) passed in 2006. Shirley is survived by her son Chris
and his daughter Catherine Leland Hehmeyer and son Christopher Key
Hehmeyer, Jr., all of Chicago.
The family wishes to express its deep gratitude to Shirley’s devoted and
loving friends known as Team Shirley (T. Frank Jackson, Susan Carr
Oppenheimer, and Debbie Hooser) and to the angels sent from heaven who
were her care-givers.
A funeral service will be 11 a.m. Friday, February 4th at St. John’s
Episcopal Church, preceded by visitation at 10 a.m. in the Parish Hall of St.
John’s. Interment will be in Caldwell, NJ.
In lieu of flowers the family requests memorials may be sent to The Boy
Choir at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 3245 Central Ave., Memphis, TN
38111 or to the Golf Course Project at The University of the South, Office
of Development, Sewanee, TN 37375.
Canale Funeral Directors 901-452-6400
