Eldonna M. Shields-Kyle

Eldonna "Ducky" Shields-Kyle completed her life journey on August 3, 2024 after a brief illness.

Eldonna was born on February 27, 1940 in Lorain, Ohio to the late Earl F. Shields, Sr. and Ileta Blanche (nee McFadden) Shields.

Eldonna grew up in Lorain and graduated from Lorain High School in 1958. She earned a B.S in Nursing at The Ohio State University in 1962, an M.S. in Nursing at Duke University in 1972 (with Gerontological Nurse Specialty), and a post-Master's Certificate in Nursing Administration from Wayne State University in 1982.

Eldonna had a lifelong commitment to gerontological nursing, working as the director of nursing at the Shields Nursing Clinic in Lorain, the American Nurses Association in Kansas City MO, as an Assistant Professor of Nursing (Graduate Faculty), University of Akron, and as an Associate Professor of Nursing, Graduate Faculty, Medical College of Ohio, Toledo. Eldonna also established, coordinated and advised the RN/BSN Program, BGSU Firelands, Huron, and developed/coordinated the Older Adult Services Mental Health Program at the NORD Community of Health Center, Lorain.

Before retiring, Eldonna also developed and directed the Center for Lifelong Learning and served as Adjunct Faculty for the Division of Allied Health and Nursing at Lorain County

Community College, Elyria, from which she retired in 2002.

Eldonna received a special commendation from the 113 th and 115 th General Assembly of Ohio for her contributions to the well-being of Ohio’s senior citizens through her many efforts as a

gerontological nurse and educator. She provided testimony to the U.S. Senate Committee on Aging and gave innumerable formal presentations on gerontological nursing issues to RNs, LPN’s, social workers and related professionals at colleges, universities, and professional organizations, hospitals, and nursing homes throughout the United States and Canada. As a recognized expert in her field, Eldonna was also a published author.

Related to this robust career, Eldonna was recognized with the Outstanding Alumni Award from the Ohio State University College of Nursing. She was a member of the Ohio Nurses Association, a past president of the Ohio Board of Nursing, a member and Fellow with the American Academy of Nursing, and a member of the Board of Directors at Kendal at Oberlin, the Sigma Theta Tau Nursing honorary, and the American Gerontological Society.

With her lifelong focus on service, Eldonna volunteered for the Hospice of the Western Reserve, and facilitated a support group for participants in the cardiac rehabilitation program at Mercy Medical Center, Lorain. She also facilitated a caregiver support group at the First Evangelical Lutheran Church, Lorain, the church at which she was a lifetime member.

Eldonna was an avid Ohio State football fan and often joked about including in her obituary that she went to be with Woody Hayes. She was a bird lover and completed a program to become a certified Ohio Volunteer Naturalist with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources at the McGee Marsh Migratory Bird and Wildlife Area in Oak Harbor. She had three rescue cats which she dearly loved, leaving two behind when she passed. She was a “not so good” cook but her friends and relatives placated her by teasing that she was a very good cook.

Eldonna’s loving memory will be carried on by numerous nieces and nephews and dear friends. She will be reunited with her parents, her husband Charles Kyle, her sisters Cathleen Klier, Sarann Schnitzler Snyder, her brother Earl F Shields, Jr., M.D., her sister Bonnie Golden and her nephew Charles Jenkins.

Friends may call Wednesday, August 28, 2024 from 4:00 p.m. until the time of a memorial service at 6:00 p.m. at the Riddle Funeral Home, 5345 South Street, Vermilion, OH 44089.  Private inurnment will take place at Maple Grove Cemetery, Vermilion.

In lieu of flowers, she requested donations to be made to the First Evangelical Lutheran Church of Lorain, Friendship APL Elyria, or St. Jude’s Research Hospital, Memphis TN.

Online condolences may be made at www.riddlefuneralhome.com