Daisy Stanley Sheldon

Daisy Stanley Sheldon of Swansboro, NC turned in her bingo card (albeit reluctantly) and passed peacefully at home on March 13, 2023, following a long, healthy life of 96 years.  Daisy always believed her birthdate to be November 29, 1926.  But at age 81, she learned that in fact that her birthday was October 24.  She was sorry to suddenly not be one month younger!

Born in Swansboro and never wanting to live anywhere else, Daisy grew up when the town had unpaved roads and everyone knew everyone else.  Over the years, Daisy was interviewed several times for books or newspaper articles about the town, as she was one of the remaining pillars of the days gone by.  As a young girl, she would visit with neighbors helping town matriarchs cook for residents of the Tarrymore Hotel.  She would eventually own and run seafood restaurants with her mother Maybelle Stanley; namely, the Seafarers Restaurant which was on Front Street.  This restaurant was often frequented by celebrities boating through the ICW such as actor Jimmy Dean, and local prominent residents like Dr. William Sharpe (developer of the Hammocks) who was good friends with her family, or Mr. JT Barnes of Barnesfield.  Mr. Barnes would often reserve the private dining room and host large dinner parties there for his distinguished guests, as it was after all, the best place to enjoy great seafood and good company.

The USO was the place to be for good music during the WWII era and Daisy’s dance card was always full of young marines wanting to dance with ‘that girl’.  She won many jitterbug contests, probably kicking those legs to her favorite Glenn Miller song, In the Mood.  Her photo hung in the USO for years (we wish we had a copy of that picture!).  It was at the USO that she met her husband, Scotty (Everett) Sheldon.  He preferred to slow dance, so how did he ever catch her eye?

During the day Daisy worked at Camp Lejeune’s Tarawa Terrace Base Housing for many years, then would head back to the ‘boro to help close the restaurant at night.  She loved fried spots, mullet, shrimp, a T-bone steak seared in her mother’s cast iron frying pan, bogue sound watermelons, plums from Mr. Williams’ plum tree, collards with hot pepper vinegar, crispy-edged cornbread, spaghetti, lobster, and oysters roasted outside.

Always ready for fun and ready to travel at a moment’s notice, she enjoyed trips to many spots along the eastern coastline.  In her twenties, she and her girlfriends would pop away for fun weekends ‘hitching a ride’ to Miami or Myrtle Beach.  She ‘snuck’ onto the beach grounds of the Kennedy compound with one of her nieces (thankfully they didn’t get caught)!  She enjoyed trips to Las Vegas, where she once danced with “Tumbleweed”, a young guy clad in a long black coat who was walking through the piano bar at the Bellagio and again, wanted to dance with “that girl” (she was in her late ‘70s at the time and still showing off!).  She danced with an Elvis impersonator at a waterfront restaurant in Fort Myers and cleared the floor.  Jaunts to Atlantic City or time spent on the SC casino boats with girlfriends for some one-armed bandit action were right up her alley.   

Daisy and Scotty enjoyed wintering in Plant City, FL, and taking many cruises with their great friends from Star Hill Golf Club.  Always wanting to be on the golf course, Daisy was a great putter and scramble teams wanted her on their team for that reason.  She loved playing in the ladies' 9-holers group for many years and helped host several of the group’s year-end tournaments.  

She had a lifelong love of playing bingo at all the various places around Swansboro, Hubert, Camp Lejeune, or Newport sometimes going to bingo a few nights during the week.  Through the years she often hosted hurricane parties at her home weathering the storms in style by preparing good food and playing card games like setback, nickels, or various poker games with dear friends.  Loving music and live shows, Daisy also enjoyed many events with her daughter and friends such as seeing Barbra Streisand’s farewell tour, Jersey Boys the Musical via a limo ride through downtown Washington DC and seeing the sights following the show, or performances by the National Symphony Orchestra, the Marine Corp Band, Tony Bennet, etc. 

Daisy was always one to lend a helping hand to a friend in need and was a wonderful caregiver.  Most of all she enjoyed the opportunity to help teach her grandsons when they were small how to read, write, and learn their math tables.  She often collected toys for the marine corps’ Toys for Tots program each Christmas and participated in fundraisers with the VFW.

This beautiful, spirited force of nature was preceded in death by her husband Scotty Sheldon of 45 years, and brothers Bill Stanley of Rhode Island and Roy Stanley of Swansboro.  She is survived by her daughter Tammy Sheldon, son-n-law David Blaha and her grandson Aaron (whose family she lived with in Cary NC for the last 6 years), as well as her son Ken Sheldon and her grandson Jamie Sheldon of Cape Carteret.

A brief graveside service will be directed by Jones Funeral Home at Seaside Memorial Park in Swansboro on Monday, March 20 @ 1:00pm.

Our deepest thanks to Transitions LifeCare.  The nurses and volunteers who provide such selfless support, compassion, and care are truly special, mythical beings.  To honor Daisy's memory in lieu of flowers, donations would be welcomed to Transitions LifeCare of Wake County, Healing Transitions of Raleigh, or St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.