When Shirley Stephens lost her 9-year-old son in an accident on Halloween 20 years ago, she never could have imagined how the tragedy would shape her life.

“I had been divorced for four months, I had just moved to a new place, and I had been a Cub Scout leader, I had been treasurer of the PTA — so I was tied up with all this stuff with school and church, and then all the sudden, you’re no longer a wife, you’re no longer a mother, and the basic thing you had was going to work,” Stephens said. “I begged to work.”

Instead of retreating, Stephens dealt with her loss by surrounding herself with people and devoting herself to her job and community serive.

For 30 years, Stephens worked at Post Offices around the county, getting to know people from each community.

“I absolutely adored working at the Post Office,” she said. “It was the perfect job for me because I have a thing for numbers. I might not remember your name, but if you ever give me an address that goes with it, I’ll never forget the name. I was meeting somebody once, and he said, ‘My name is such-and-such,’ and I looked at him and said, ‘You live on Highway 90, don’t you?’” Numbers are just my thing.”

She retired last April, but she still uses her knack for numbers in her roles as the Silverhill Library’s director and as a member of the Silverhill Town Council.

In addition to working long hours at the Post Office, becoming involved in the community helped fill her time and kept her plugged in with others throughout the years, she said.

“Where I would have been tied up with kids’ stuff and all of that, the opportunities that seemed to present themselves were public service,” Stephens said. “I played the organ at church, I ran for town council and I started volunteering at the library.”

Getting involved in the inner workings of Silverhill through the Town Council was never something she saw herself doing, but she loved her town and agreed to run when former Mayor Allen Green asked her to in 2004. 

Even without campaigning, she won, and she has been re-elected twice.

“The first time I ran, my mother was so upset with me. She didn’t want me to run,” Stephens said. “So I couldn’t put out any signs, and I didn’t campaign, but I walked my dog every afternoon, and if I’d see anybody, I’d say, ‘Hi, I’m Shirley Stephens, and I’m running for Town Council — be sure to vote for me,’ and I guess enough people knew me that they voted me in.”

After years of volunteering with the Silverhill Library, Stephens was recently appointed director.

“I’m learning so many things,” she said. “I’m responsible for coordinating the volunteers, ordering books, cataloging what we get. So many nice people have just brought us boxes of books.”

One of her favorite responsibilities is recommending books to the library’s patrons.

Allison Moon of Loxley said she has visited the library at least once a week since she moved to the area seven months ago.

“The library was the first real, official place I visited when I moved here, and because of Shirley and the library, I feel welcome in the community,” Moon said. “She always has some good suggestions. I come in here and say, ‘I don’t know what I want to read, and she’ll just start pulling stuff and say ‘Try these,’ and they’re usually good.”

Stephens said the library has given her even more opportunities to meet people in Silverhill and teach them about its history. She also loves watching children discover their love for reading and introducing people of all ages to the wonders of the library.

“One of the things that’s really great about working is here that people do come in, and I love visiting with people,” she said. “The school last year sent all their students here on a field trip, and I told them the history of the library and what we have now. A lot of people that have come in say they didn’t even know this was an actual working library.”

Stephens is also involved at Zion Lutheran Church, and she said her faith has been a key factor in turning tragedy into a life of service and love for her neighbors.

“I do have a strong faith, and I could feel that even after he was killed, that God was still with me,” she said. “I didn’t have any doubt in my mind about that.”