THE BRIDGE

The domestic violence and sexual assault service provider for Dunn and Pepin Counties.

Shirley Fredrickson Memorial

By Liz Jones- Executive Director, The Bridge to Hope (just a note, this doesn’t need to be included in the article, I knew Shirley in a few arenas, mostly when I served as the Vice Chair of the 3^rd Congressional District for Wisconsin Dems and in her role as an advocate at the Bridge).

Shirley Fredrickson was an amazing advocate for women and children everywhere, but especially in the areas served by the Bridge to Hope.  Shirley worked as a Legal Advocate for the West Central Domestic Abuse program (now known as The Bridge to Hope) from 1986-1993.  Shirley was a Legislative Aide to former State Senator Alice Clausing from 1993-2001. She has worked for many years in volunteer positions in public policy, serving on many boards with the intention of helping people.  

She later returned to work as the Legal Advocate for the Bridge to Hope from 2001-2006, she did great work for the Domestic Abuse and Sexual Assault shelter in the years that she spent in her position.  She implemented activities for a Domestic Abuse in Later Life program, trained others to work with elder abuse cases, made many community connections in her position- including local law enforcement, worked to make sure Guardian Ad Litems were trained to meet law requirements, as well as working with all clients who needed her.  

The shelter at the Bridge to Hope is named after Shirley and has a sign on the entrance: “Peace to All Who Enter Shirley’s House- founding mother.”  She demonstrated an amazing commitment to the agency, our mission, and to ending violence toward women and children and promoted social justice in every aspect of her life.

Shirley’s husband John passed away in July of 2006 at the age of 73, leaving her a widow.  Shirley, despite health issues, continued to press forward working to better the world. She was going to continue to help at the Bridge to Hope in a volunteer capacity, continuing her quest to end violence in our community.  She will be dearly missed.

I spoke with some people who knew Shirley in a variety of roles, here are some quotes from just a few of the many who were blessed enough to have the pleasure of knowing Shirley:

It was Shirley's passion for justice for all people that was such a blazing and attractive quality in her.  It imbued everything she said or did.  It certainly was what drove her to be politically active.  We will always need her kind of earnest dedication to a vision of a society with freedom and equality for all citizens.  She will be deeply missed as an activist and, even more, as a friend.

Mary Rasmussen

Shirley was a person we could rely on.  She always went that extra mile.  She was passionate about politics and cared not only about the process but the outcome as well.  She will be missed.

Congressman Ron Kind and Tawni Kind

Shirley was always someone I personally admired in all of her roles.  Her dedication to victims of violence, her passion and commitment to social justice, and her dignified and professional demeanor were characteristics that I strive to embrace.  If I can achieve half of the things that she did in her life, I will feel I have done some good.  She is someone who truly had a mission in life and lived it out to the fullest.

A friend of mine recently shared a poem with me that had an analogy that I think it fitting.  He is a potter and a poet and told me:

It’s said that when a pot has been broken the spirit is free.  Some national treasure devised this nonsense while meditating too long at the foot of the mountain; that his pots should cost thousands and were locked in vaults to keep them safe and whole.  My ‘collection’ is in full use to be savored and not locked away. From time to time, a pot is dropped and lost and returned to the ages, as are the friend who made them one by one. –Bob Broderson

Shirley was a great artisan of social justice.

Shirley was born on April 6, 1935 and passed away on Friday, January 11, 2008.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to The Bridge to Hope of Menomonie.

The following made a donation to The Bridge to Hope in Shirley's honor:

Rev. Rob MacDougall

Richard Creaser

John & Barb Deutscher

Downsville Sportsman Club

Amy Riddle Swanson

Patricia Rosenberg

David & Dorothy Enger

Calvin & Bonnie Christianson

Joe Plouff

Michael Stori

Elaine Fitzgerald

Kenneth & Margaret Stauss

Meredith Ingram

Irene Arntzen

Marie Karen Hawkinson

Sandy Schlemm

Ed & Lynn Laventure

Allen Taylor

Thank you.

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