February 17, 1944
– March 28, 2020
Shirley Lucille Sunset (maiden name, Zinda), 76, of Vancouver, Washington, passed away on March 28, 2020. Born February 17, 1944 in Vancouver, WA. She was the daughter of the late Ferdinand (Fred Sr.) and Ruth Zinda. She is survived by her husband of what would have been 53 years in mid-April, Franklin; son, Randy; and daughter, April. Shirley was the oldest daughter and matriarch (and master diaper-changer) of 13 siblings: the late Judith (Gladys) Stadler, Don Zinda, and David Zinda and survived by Gene Zinda, Bob Zinda, Carole Cahill, Dot Holmgren, Fred Jr. Zinda, Janie Smith, Betty Templeman, Judy Perry, Danny Zinda, and Jack Zinda. She has published 3 children’s books (under the name of Shirley Zinda Sunset) documenting her trials and tribulations of being raised in such a motley crew.
Shirley had many careers, always searching for her thing. She was good at everything, so she did just that. Everything. She was a (what she called) hairdresser, florist, real estate agent, solderer at Tektronix, radio station receptionist, painter (you may have one of her tole paintings?), restaurant owner (Señior Kortez), waitress, Sunday school teacher, student, volunteer, published author, property owner, and finally, business owner.
There was never any thought given to, “Can I do this?” It was always: “Do it. Details will fall into place later.” Nothing was out of the realm of possibility. One of MANY examples, her brother had told her about a screen printing company that was up for sale. She knew nothing about it, but thought it sounded interesting and would allow her to use her artistic chops. She ran the business from her garage until one day, she found some commercial property for sale. She hit up 2 of her brothers to go in on it and they purchased the property and built 2 buildings (each with 4 units) to get her out of her garage. She had a gift shop in the front of her unit (Sunset Collection) and Artfarm Screenprinting (still in operation today) in the back.
That fearlessness was instilled in her from the beginning, although she loved to expand her philosophical prowess in her love of self-improvement books and teachings, specifically, the EST program by Werner Erhard. She raised her kids to experience everything (including their emotions) and to live each day as if there’s no tomorrow. She passed that fearlessness down to her beloved grandkids. She loved her family fiercely. She loved the beach, flowers and plants in her garden, and loved to travel. Not many parents can say they were their childrens’ best friend. But Shirls was. She was such a huge force, she touched so many lives and is severely missed.
A memorial will be held when we get a break from the quarantine.
