Obituary of Shelley M. Pushard
Shelly M. Pushard
March 21, 1958 – October 8, 2024
My beautiful wife, Shelley, has recently died of breast cancer that had metastasized throughout her body, especially the liver. She had previously beaten ovarian cancer. This is her husband Scott who is writing this. One of the advantages of our journey was knowing roughly how much longer we had together. We got to tell each other everything we wanted to. She had time to tell me what she wanted for her obituary and what people she wanted to thank.
Shelly was born on March 21st, 1958, in Waterville, Maine. She lived in Hardwick, Massachusetts from age 4 to 17. She attended Quabbin Reginal High in Barre, MA, before returning to Maine for good. She had two handsome boys, Wayne Goodrich Jr., and Rick Podkowka. She would always pull out pictures of them to show or tell people what they were doing. She was so proud of the men they had become. A lot of times, shortly after talking about her sons, she would do the same with our dogs, Bosley and Mugsy. They brought her a lot of joy throughout some tough times.
Shelly had many jobs in her life and on one of them is where we met. We dated for 5 years before marrying in 2006. She was as beautiful in her final days as she was the first time I saw her. Shelly so wanted to pass at home but things didn’t work out that way. She passed away at Maine Med in Portland. Our very first date was near Maine Med at the 3.5 mile walk you can do around the water. We would go there a lot over the years and in her final days one of her rooms overlooked our spot. So, she passed near a special place to us.
We would like to thank both her regular doctors, Jen McConnell and Ramon Cheleuitte for taking great care of her over the years. We would like to thank everyone at The New England Cancer Facility, who took such great care of her for nearly 12 years. She would like to say thank you to her friend and receptionist, Johanne, and to Dr Chiara Battelli, who she was very close to. Everyone there was awesome to her.
She was predeceased by parents, Helen and Bob Nason; Son, Wayne Goodrich Jr.; Sisters, Sandra Hartly, Sharon Pooler, Ella Johnson, and Verna Williams; and stepbrother, Alan Nason. She is survived by husband, Scott; her son, Rick Podkowka and his wife Heather, and many more relatives, in laws, and friends.
Some of the things Shelley enjoyed doing over the years were dancing, camping, trips with Rick and Heather, a trip to Vegas with friends Joe and Michele, bonfires, walking, bingo at Fox Woods, zoos, aquariums, trips to North Conway, fishing, ID TU especially Dr. G and Joe Kenda, Sopranos, and she loved her scratch tickets. She loved to travel but as her cancer spread over the years she loved to stay home.
She would sit outside for hours each day watching me work and looking at wildlife, but she loved the 4 gardens we had made over the years best. We had stone animals and decorations in them all and they all had a lot of lights in them as well. She would sit on her swing and watch the lights at night for hours. We would sit and talk out there often, rarely ever talking about cancer or death. We always through the long fight would take it day by day and laugh as much as possible. She loved to pull pranks like throwing cold water on me in the shower or trying to scare me, but I couldn’t do it back of course.
She wanted to say thanks to all her family and friends, specifically Becky and Ali, for all the support and talks through the years. She wanted to thank all the people that she made arrangements and baskets for. She enjoyed seeing you all each year. She made beautiful funeral arrangements to try to help people in a tough time.
Shelly was a beautiful woman who never needed make-up to look good, but she loved to dress up and look good and where lots of jewelry. She was an amazing woman who never lost her sense of humor or will to live. Throughout her cancer journey, she showed me and everyone she knew never give up no matter what cards you are dealt. She showed incredible perseverance through all the treatments, bad and good news, medications, and surgeries along the way. She did it all with such determination. She wanted to thank the Pushard Family for making her feel like a real family member. You all always made her feel so loved throughout our 24 years together.
And finally, I miss you deeply my dear and I will take good care of Mugsy and Heather will take good care of Rick, so go fly with the angels and have fun till I see you again. I love you!
