ERDINE LEONA (DALY) SCHIRMER, of Hingham, known to her friends as "Ginger" passed away Thursday, Sept. 13th, 2012 at the Life Care Center of Plymouth at the age of 91. Born on June 5, 1921 to the late Leona E. (Rose) and William B. Daly in what was the family home at 646 Main St., in Hingham. She grew up next to her Daly grandparent's home at 654 Main St. near Wilder Memorial Hall where she loved to ride her horses "Gypsy" and "Freckles" through the woods on their property over to the springs on Lazell St. and downtown for their ice cream. She attended South School which was across the street at that time. She was a descendant of the Benjamin Wilder family of Hingham.
Erdine was a dancer and at the age of 14 she participated in the Tercentennial Hingham Pageant in 1935 and she also played the Hawaiian guitar. She was a 1940 graduate of Hingham High School and loved helping the reunion committees with her friends and classmates. She worked at the Cass Toy Company which was at the Mill Pond (Station St.) in downtown Hingham many years ago and also the Salingers Dress Shop in Quincy before marriage. She and her father raced ponies known as the Little River Pony Farm at many local fairs, shows and participated in the July 4th parades. She worked part time in the schools as a cafeteria worker before being accepted as a Traffic Supervisor/Crossing Guard for the Hingham Police. Erdine also became a Special Hingham Police Officer and worked at the school crossings on Main Street and occasionally summer schools for Hingham, Derby Academy and Notre Dame Academy, almost forty years before retiring and also was a matron for the Hingham and Hull Police.
She was a 75 year member of the Grange being a Past Master of Hingham, Scituate and Mayflower North Pomona and a member of Norwell. She held many offices in the Grange and she was a State Grange Home & Community Committee officer at one time and also a National Grange Member.
Erdine enhojed many years of parades and tours with the South Shore Antique Auto Club and drove in the July 4th parades for many years with her 1922 Model T. Center Door Sedan. She loved camping with her yellow Chevy truck pickup camper and traveled to many states often visiting relatives and Grange members. She also loved fairs, flea markets, arts and crafts, horse shows, beaches, knitting, museums and animals.
Erdine was a lifelong Hingham resident until a few years ago when she moved to senior housing at Winslow Village in Marshfield to be with her friends.
She was married in 1948 to the late Robert F. Schirmer and divorced in 1978. She is survived by her son Bryan R. Schirmer of Alexandria, VA and her daughter Brenda E. and her husband Bryan D. Gregor of Pembroke, MA as well as many cousins and their families in Massachusetts, Florida, Rhode Island and Maryland.
The family and friends of Erdine would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude for their compassionate and expert care to the staff of Life Care Center of Plymouth and Cranberry Hospice.
A funeral service will be conducted on Wednesday, Sept. 19th at 11 AM at the Downing Cottage Funeral Chapel, 21 Pond St., Hingham. Relatives and friends are invited to visit at the Downing Chapel on Tuesday from 6-8 PM.
Rather than flowers, donations in Erdine's memory may be made to Cranberry Hospice, 36 Cordage Park Circle, Plymouth, MA 02360 or The Animal Rescue League of Boston, 10 Chandler St., Boston, MA 02116. Interment in High Street Cemetery, Hingham.