Shirley Southard Kasteel was born in Baltimore, Maryland on December 28, 1927 and she spent WWII years living on Fort Meade where her father was a post engineer. The departing troop trains made a deep impression on her as a teenager.

Her first employment involved long distance calls for soldiers and later assisting in the Army Dental Clinic. After the war, the family moved to Millenbeck. A returning soldier, James Hamilton Rowe, Jr. became the husband with whom she brought up their son, James H. Rowe, III. They served as civilians in the occupation Army in Germany for almost two decades. Then she returned to the United States as a government contract specialist in Charlottesville and at Fort Lee until her retirement in 1988.

Now married to Frans Kasteel, she lived at Millenbeck for the next 26 years until her peaceful death on January 18, 2015. She is survived by her son; her granddaughters, Jennifer Covahay and Jessica Purifoy; great granddaughters, Kayla and Keira Purifoy; grandsons in law, Major Ryan Covahay and Leroy Purifoy and two cousins, Sue Grady and Mary Lou Spence.

A memorial service will be held 11:00 a. m. Friday, January 23, 2015 at St. Mary’s Whitechapel Episcopal Church.

Memorial contributions may be made to Upper Lancaster Rescue Squad, P. O. Box 176, Lively, VA 22507, Lancaster Community Library, P. O. Box 850, Kilmarnock, VA 22482 or St. Mary’s Whitechapel Episcopal Church for the River Road Food Pantry, 5940 White Chapel Road, Lancaster, VA 22503.