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LARCHMONT, N.Y. Shirley Gwen Bovard, a longtime Larchmont resident, died Aug. 30. She was 89.
A memorial celebration will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 29, at Larchmont Avenue Presbyterian Church.
Born June 19, 1923, in Wisbech, England, Bovard immigrated to the U.S. at the age of 21 to be with her American husband, Everett, at the end of World War II. They were married for 62 years until his death in 2007.
Bovard was a watercolor artist and her paintings are in private collections. She exhibited locally and won many prizes. Bovard was an active member of Mamaroneck Artists Guild and New Rochelle Art Association.
She expressed a deep love of nature through her work. Bovard gathered inspiration for her paintings during frequent walks at Marshlands Conservancy and Manor Park. She also loved music and dance, as well as literature and reading to children. She served as a reading tutor at KEEPs, an after school program in Mamaroneck.
Bovard was a supporter of local shelters and Smile Train, a non-profit that provides no-cost surgeries to children born with cleft palate in impoverished countries. She was a longtime member of PEO, a charitable womens sorority, Larchmont Avenue Church and Larchmont Women's Club.
She is survived by three children, Jill (Jim) Owens, of Queens, N.Y., Meryl Bovard, of Rye, and Everett (Jeannine) Bovard Jr., of Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; four grandchildren, and five nieces and nephews.
John J. Fox Funeral Home in Larchmont is handling funeral arrangements. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Smile Train.
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