Dr. Sheila M. Foor

Dr. Sheila Marie Foor, 76, of Hockessin, Delaware, formerly of Westerville, OH and Shelbyville, IL, passed away on September 27, 2025 at Christiana Hospital.

She was a 1966 graduate of Shelbyville High School in IL, and earned her BS and MS degrees in English from Eastern Illinois University in 1977 and 1978, She then earned her PhD degree from The Ohio State University at Columbus, OH in 1985 in English literature.

Sheila had a variety of secretary jobs at Eastern Illinois University (History, English Philosophy department) and the University of Illinois (Krannert Center for the Performing Arts), to support her family while her husband completed his degrees. When she went back to graduate school she taught the introductory writing course at Ohio State. After moving to Delaware, Sheila became a tenured professor at Lincoln University in PA where she coordinated the English Education Program. She also taught writing and the novel.

Sheila founded and was the original “Queen Mother” of the Red Hats Society chapter in Hockessin. It is still active with 20+ members. She was an avid contributor to several shelters, including Sojourners Place in Wilmington providing them with clothes for their residents. She also bought gifts for kids so they had something to wrap and give to their children and grandchildren at Christmas time. She will be missed. She was also active in the Hockessin Methodist Church clothes closet. She was an avid gardener, adding new garden beds to the lawn year after year.

Sheila is preceded in death by her son, Chad Foor, her mother and father, Shirley Bunch and Ernest Reitzel, and her brother, Scott Young.

She is survived by her loving husband of 56 years, Dr. Stephen Foor, her daughter Shannon George and son-in-law, Christopher George, and grandchildren Leighton and Chase George of Hockessin DE. She is additionally survived by her daughter in law, Lynn Foor, and grandchildren Erin and Megan Foor of Columbia, MD. Sheila also leaves behind her sisters, Cyn Franz of Maryville, IL, and Debby Shasteen (Jerry) of Shelbyville, IL, her brother, Bill Reitzel (Marilyn) of Morton, IL and brother-in-law, Charles Foor of Tower Hill, IL as well as an abundance of nieces nephews and grands in Illinois and Missouri. Those who had the honor of knowing Sheila will greatly miss her.

Friends and family are invited for a gathering of remembrance to celebrate Sheila’s life on Saturday, October 11, 2025 from 10:30am to 12:30pm at Chandler Funeral Home in Hockessin, DE.

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Funeral Services

Friends and family are invited for a gathering of remembrance to celebrate Sheila’s life on Saturday, October 11, 2025 from 10:30am to 12:30pm at Chandler Funeral Home in Hockessin, DE.

Condolences

Charmaine Campagna writes,

Sheila will always be remembered as a good friend, a great and giving human being and a fellow Red Hat member. She will be missed but the Lord has welcomed her now and she will join family, friends and all who are already in heaven.

10/05/2025 07:21 pm

Cissy Howell writes,

When I think of Sheila, some of the words that come to my mind are FUN, CARING, INNOVATIVE, STRONG, SOMEONE WHO ALWAYS HAD MY BACK, HELD MY HAND, SOMEONE ALWAYS WILLING TO PITCH IN AND HELP. I will miss you so much, Sheila.

10/05/2025 08:40 pm

Elaine Negley writes,

I always admired Shiela's ever pleasant smile. Her ability to see the bright side of things despite issues, physical and emotional, that would put others in a tailspin was amazing. One of my fondest memories was an overnight trip to see Tom Jones with several of her Red Hat Sisters. I will really miss her.

10/06/2025 10:49 am

Sarala Van Dover writes,

Our deepest condolences to Stephen, Shannon and Chris, Lynn, Sheila and Stephen’s grandchildren, Sheila's siblings and in-laws, Sheila's nieces and nephews, and all who have lost this extraordinary and lovely woman. Sheila became a friend to me, Ken and our family after we met as colleagues in the English Department at Lincoln University. She was a wonderful and caring teacher, a scholar and respected member of the academic community, and a most loyal and loving friend to me. I admired her for her courage, her generosity, her creativity, her faith, hope, and perseverance through all the challenges that life gave to her. Her garden was beautiful, her home was artistic, her letters were eloquent. I have been re-reading them all this week. She was blessed with humor and wit and the gift of laughter. Everything she did showed her love for her family, and I am grateful for her lavish affection for our children. Sheila and I went to the Bahamas so that her niece and my daughter could swim with dolphins. She and I went to New York to see The Color Purple on Broadway. Both experiences are unforgettable. Thank you, Sheila, for your friendship, and for being a model in how to appreciate the gift of life, and to live it with grace and joy. Sarala with Ken, Lara, and Andrew

10/06/2025 04:52 pm

Anne Smith lit a candle and writes,

For days I have tried to find words that completely capture the essence of Shelia. To say she was a a dear, caring, loving friend to me is certainly an understatement. Shelia had a heart twice the size of her petite body. She was a person who CARED about her family, her friends , her flowers and birds and especially Cherished her four grandchildren. Shelia’s bright light seems extinguished now, but truly it isn’t! She is present in every rainbow, every sunset, every bloom in her garden and every sound of laughter of her grandchildren. Those and many other memories will keep Shelia alive always in our hearts and minds. Shelia was joy in the truest sense of the word.

10/07/2025 07:11 pm

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