Obituaries

Mary Ritter was on the job just a week when she met a co-worker named Steve Shambaugh. Steve says it was love at first sight, but it took a little persuasion to win Mary over.

When he learned that Mary shared his passion for music and that she needed new strings for her guitar, he came up with a plan.

He told Mary he had a spare set of strings at home and that he’d be more than happy to come to her house and re-string her guitar.

It was a stretch of the truth, but Steve hustled down to the music store and bought a set of strings and went to Mary’s house and strung her guitar.

He then serenaded her with “Stairway to Heaven” on the guitar.

The two were engaged months later and married the following year. They were preparing to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary this October, but Mary died suddenly on April 7, while at home in Newark, CA.

She was 59.

The cause of death was heart failure.

Mary Shambaugh was the type of woman who did everything with gusto, care and a keen sense of curiosity.

"Mary was the meticulous planner of all the family celebrations and reunions. She did it all with unmatched flair and passion, ‘’ says her sister Charmaine Jabr.

Mary homeschooled her three children, Cassie, Michael and Alex, but it wasn’t just them sitting at the kitchen table with a stack of books and lessons plans.

Her youngest son Alex, 30, recalls times when the family went on summer trips to Mary’s home state of Ohio and his mom would go to AAA and get a stack of maps to show her children how to plan out the routes.

He says she’d always make sure they went to some of America’s most treasured monuments and national parks—Niagara Falls, Mount Rushmore, and the Grand Canyon to name a few.

“She wanted to learn too, it wasn’t just about teaching us,’’ remembers her daughter, Cassie Shambaugh, now 37.

Once on a family hike at Coyote Hills Regional Park in Fremont, they found a dead snake on the ground and brought it home so Mary could teach the kids about snake biology.

Mary also taught classes on classic literature, world geography, and political science to students in the home-school program. She coordinated numerous homeschooling families through the process of state curriculum and testing.

When the students studied world geography, she invited each one to bring a food dish from the countries they were studying for a group potluck.

“She was also out there, go big, or go home, but she was also good at the little stuff,” recalls Cassie, adding that her mom had a zest for life.

A few years ago, when Cassie and her boyfriend Ben were scheduled to move and the reservation for a moving truck fell through, Mary offered up the family minivan for the move, and traded vehicles with her daughter.

“I think she enjoyed it more than I did because she got to drive my sports car,” Cassie says.

Her son Michael says his mom helped him achieve the Eagle Scout rank in Boy Scouts after he wanted to quit the process because of school and sports commitments.

“She laid out the value of it,” says the 36-year-old Michael.

Mary’s hobbies included cooking and baking, scrapbooking, telling stories and she enjoyed a large circle of friends.
“She was just so sweet and pleasant, and she made fast friends with everybody,’ says her sister Charmaine.

Mary Elizabeth (nee Ritter) Shambaugh was born on Sept. 17, 1963, to Thomas Ritter and Margaret Papp in Youngstown, Ohio. She was the 9th of 10 children.

Mary attended St. Edwards Catholic School for elementary and middle school and graduated in 1981 from The Rayen School in Youngstown.

Mary moved to Cupertino in 1982 and immediately landed a job at the Dysan Corp. as a quality control technician. Mary worked at the company until 1986 when she decided to be a stay-at-home mom.

Over the years, Steve and Mary were involved with the homeschooling community, sports teams, neighborhood associations and Boy Scouts’ leadership. Mary was also a contract employee at Fremont Christian School until 2010.

The couple had a shared Christian faith and attended the Church of Christ in Fremont, and an unwavering devotion to their children and extended families.

For the past 12 months, Mary also was the primary caregiver of her eldest brother, Tom, in their home as he suffered from Frontotemporal Aphasia.

“She took being a mom very seriously in every way, shape and form,” says Steve, who now wears her engagement and wedding rings on a gold chain around his neck.

Mary Shambaugh is survived by her husband Steve; her sons Alex (Nancy) of Newark, CA, and Michael of Fremont. CA; her daughter Cassie of Pleasanton, CA; brother Thomas Ritter of Alexandria, VA; sister Margaret Cleckner of Struthers, OH; sister Charmaine Jabr (Joe) of Morgan Hill, CA.; sister Cathleen DeMarco of Niles, OH.; brother Mark Ritter of Toledo, OH.; sister Judith Reynolds of Youngstown, OH; and more than 100 nieces and nephews including grands and she loved them all dearly.

Mary was preceded in death by her parents, Thomas and Margaret Ritter; brothers Daniel and James; sister Suzanne; brothers-in-law James Reynolds and Joe DeMarco; niece Veronica Vigorito and nephew Brian Cleckner.

On Steve's side she is survived by Steve’s parents Charles and Arlene Shambaugh of Colorado Springs, CO; and Don and Judy Roberts of Ben Lomond, CA.; Sister Nancy Collins (Joe) of Newport Beach, CA.; Sister Nicole Rea (Mike) of Clovis, CA.; and Brother Jeff Roberts of Scotts Valley, CA.

A small family funeral for Mary Shambaugh was held in April. A Celebration of Life service will be held on Saturday, May 27th from 1 to 4 p.m. at Fremont Memorial Chapel, 3723 Peralta Blvd., Fremont CA.

For anyone who wishes, donations can be made on Mary’s behalf to a favorite organization of hers www.bichonfurkids.org. Our current rescue dog, Maddie, came from this worthy organization.