Shirley Doppelt Dry, 95, died peacefully on May 13 at her home on Murdock Court in Middlebury, where almost every available square inch of wall space was decorated with her own lively, colorful artwork and photographs of her beloved family and friends. Shirley Doppelt was born in Chicago on Sept. 26, 1918, the oldest daughter of Regina and Frank Doppelt. She attended the University of Illinois, where she met her husband, Sidney, and graduated from Northwestern University in 1939. After her divorce in 1959, Shirley returned to school and received a masters degree in social work from the University of Chicago in 1963. She practiced social work in Chicago and later in Massachusetts and Vermont. She moved to Philadelphia in the 1970s, after her first grandchild was born there, and embarked on a new career in the found-treasure business, opening S. Dry Antiques in Center City. A sense of adventure or, rather, the sense that life is best lived while adventuring carried Shirley all over the world, from Europe in the 1950s, to China in the 1980s, to Israel as an English teacher, to Mexico and South America, and even to West Palm Beach, Fla., where she used to go to escape Vermont winters until she gave that up a decade ago. (Too many old people, she said.) Shirley first made a part-time home in Vermont in Sheffield in the early 1970s and had lived full-time in Burlington and Middlebury since the 1980s. She cultivated many friendships with a wide array of people and loved the beauty of the country. She actively participated in writing workshops at the Ilsley Public Library, Spanish classes during the summers and in her long-standing art group, where she favored pastels and watercolors. To the end, Shirley remained a formidable Scrabble competitor. She especially cherished the wonderful community on Murdock Court and often was the life of the block party, even, in recent years, while surveying the party from a sedentary perch. Survivors include her children, Murray Dry and his wife Cecelia; Paul Dry and his wife Cecie; and Bonnie Dry and her partner Dennis Patella; her grandchildren, Sarah Dry and her husband Rob Iliffe; Katie Dry and her husband Guillermo Bleichmar; Rachel Dry; and Judith Dry; and her great-grandchildren, Jacob Iliffe; and Gabriel and Mateo Bleichmar. She was predeceased by her siblings Arlene, Philip and Claire. Funeral services will be held on Friday at 11 a.m. at Sanderson Funeral Service on 117 South Main St. in Middlebury. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Addison County Home Health and Hospice, P.O. Box 754, Middlebury, VT 05753; (802) 388-7259.