Morning Glory (B.G. Shields)
by George S. Gaadt
Founder and long-time Executive Director of the Sewickley Valley Historical Society B. G. Shields passed away on July 12, 2017. She will be greatly missed by all who knew her. The obituary below appeared in the Sewickley Herald, July 27, 2017:
"Betty G.Y. Shields, editor emeritus of the Sewickley Herald, died Wednesday, July 12, 2017, after a long illness in Lemont, Pa. She was 92. She was the wife of Daniel Leet Shields of Edgeworth, whom she married in 1953. He preceded her in death. B.G., as she was known to her friends and family, served as Herald editor from 1972 to 1987. She joined the Herald staff in 1970 as society editor. Before that, she contributed nature and history articles. In 1973, she called the first meeting of what became the Sewickley Valley Historical Society and is listed as a founding member. After retiring from the Herald, she became executive director of the society, serving until 2005 when she moved to Lemont. During the nation's bicentennial in 1976, she served as one of the tri-chairs of the Sewickley Valley Bicentennial Committee. She was a founding member of the Little Sewickley Creek Watershed Association. She was born Feb. 26, 1925, in Coffeyville, Kan., just over the border from Oklahoma, where her family, Butler County natives, worked the oil fields. Her parents were Frank S. Young and Meliss Gallaugher. She attended Butler High School and graduated in June 1942. She was a graduate of Miss Conley's School in East End, Pittsburgh, and attended the University of Pittsburgh, where she studied history. She was the mother of Daniel Leet Shields Jr., of Lemont, Pa., and the grandmother of William Francis Shields and Elizabeth Anthony Shields of Lemont. She was very fond of her daughter-in-law, Lynn Koval Shields. Paul Kramer of Butler was her stepfather. Her stepbrothers Sylvis R. and Richard T. Kramer and her stepsister Margaret Say Kramer all preceded her in death. A memorial service will be held in Sewickley at a future date. Burial will be private in Sewickley Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, Betty's request is that donations be made to the Salvation Army and Sewickley Valley Historical Society."