Scottdale woman 'got herself involved in every single organization she could'

Vicki Clark of Mt. Pleasant can’t remember her mother ever sitting down to relax.

“She would be involved in so much,” Clark said. “She would call every single person in per phone book, she quit her job to babysit our girls. She got herself involved in every single organization she could.”

Shirley Mae (Keim) Redinger of Scottdale died Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019, of complications from Alzheimer’s disease. She was 84.

Mrs. Redinger was born May 1, 1935, in Scottdale, a daughter of the late Ivan Rocita and Mary Katherine (Smith) Keim.

She graduated from Scottdale High School in 1953, and met her husband of 55 years, Sam, at a picnic at Shawnee State Park in Bedford. Eight dates later, the couple married on Oct. 12, 1963.

“She was probably one of the most beautiful girls ever in Scottdale,” Sam said.

Clark said her mother was “a Scottdale icon.”

“She was the longest-serving member of Beta Y Gradale, a service club for women that’s associated with the YMCA,” she said. “They go out into the community, help and support people and raise money for people in need. They really helped the community, and it’s still going on.”

Mrs. Clark worked as a secretary at Duraloy Blaw-Knox in Scottdale, and as a dietary aide at Frick Hospital in Mt. Pleasant. She was a member of City Church in Connellsville, as well as the Red Hat Society and a volunteer at the Geyer Performing Arts Theater.

She was also a consultant for Avon, Beeline Clothing, Fay Swafford purses, Sasco products, Parklane Jewelry and particularly Mary Kay Cosmetics.

“She was the queen of sales …She could sell you dirt out of a crick, but she was so kind and she believed in everything she sold.”

Clark said Mrs. Redinger loved Mary Kay products and continued using them up until she became afflicted with Alzheimer’s six years ago.

“She put me through dancing school with the money she made selling Mary Kay and things like that,” Clark said. “She sold it to pay for 14 dance costumes at the end of the year, she scraped and saved and invested the tiny bit they had, and if she hadn’t, my dad wouldn’t be OK today.”

Mrs. Clark is survived by her husband, Victor Eugene “Sam” Redinger; her daughter, Vicki Redinger Clark and husband, Richard, of Mt. Pleasant; two granddaughters, Peyton Marie and Ashton Victoria Clark; and a brother, Richard Keim and wife, Janet, of Scottdale.

Friends will be received Wednesday from 2-8 p.m. and from 10-11 a.m. Thursday at Robert Ferguson Funeral Home, 105 Spring St., Scottdale, where an 11 a.m. funeral will be held Thursday.

Interment will follow in Scottdale Cemetery.

Memorial donations can be made to any organization performing Alzheimer’s research.