By Nicole Hamilton
The Cincinnati Enquirer

On Valentine's Day, 1942, Shirley Adele Lance married Gordon Yuellig.

A year later, Mr. Yuellig left Cincinnati, his young wife and their newborn son to serve in the Air Force during World War II.

While her husband was stationed in Oklahoma and Garden City, Kan., Mrs. Yuellig would visit him, sometimes taking four trains in the middle of the night with their baby and luggage in tow.

"I didn't have time to think of her day and night (when I was in the service) but she thought of me every moment. She was the love of my life. Shirley was completely devoted to me and her family," said her husband of 61 years.

Shirley Adele Yuellig died Wednesday at Heartland of Hillsboro of complications of Alzheimer's disease.

The longtime White Oak resident was 83.

Every day of her separation from her husband during the war, Mrs. Yuellig wrote a letter describing her love for him.

He responded. The letters have been kept safe all these years.

"The letters serve as a love story and historical record of the daily events that filled our days," said Mr. Yuellig.

Her devotion to family never wavered. When her second child, Scott, was a kindergartner, she spearheaded a bus route plan for Colerain Elementary School.

After her children were raised, she worked as a receptionist for a doctor's office in White Oak for 12 years.

She also worked as a medical assistant, making reservations at hospitals and assisting in treatment rooms.

Mrs. Yuellig was a member of St. Elizabeth Guild and a 40-year member of Monfort Heights United Methodist Church.

In addition, she also served as the superintendent of Sunday school for the primary department at North College Hill Methodist Church.

Besides her husband, other survivors include three sons, Gordon of Hillsboro, Scott of Shepardstown, W. Va., and Paul of Mount Healthy; eight grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

Services have been held.

Burial was in Arlington Memorial Gardens, Mount Healthy.

Memorials may be made to Alzheimer's Association of Cincinnati, 644 Linn St #1026, Cincinnati OH 45203.

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E-mail nhamilton@enquirer.com