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Schelysture "Shelli" Gordon McWhorter, 73, a Temple professor

Schelysture McWhorter

By Sally A. Downey, Inquirer Staff Writer

Posted: March 05, 2011

Schelysture "Shelli" Gordon McWhorter, 73, a retired Temple University professor, died of a heart attack Tuesday, March 1, at Arbor Terrace in Chestnut Hill.

Dr. McWhorter earned a bachelor's degree from Fisk University in Nashville and a master's degree in social work from Atlanta University. In the early 1960s, she was a social worker at the Lutheran Settlement House in Philadelphia. Later, she was an instructor in the School of Social Work at Temple University, and became a full professor after earning a doctorate in early childhood development from Temple.

While on summer break from Temple, she was a psychologist for the public school systems in Lawnside and Camden, assessing the educational and therapeutic requirements of special-needs children.

A native of Atlanta, Dr. McWhorter moved to Germantown in the early 1960s. She met her future husband, John H. McWhorter IV, when she slipped in a snowstorm while stepping off a train at Queen Lane station and he helped her get up, said their daughter, Holly.

The couple married in 1964. They moved to Lawnside in 1977. The next year, Dr. McWhorter joined the Haddonfield Friends Meeting, where she became an active member. She was also involved with the American Friends Service Committee and the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting.

In 1987, she suffered a subcranial aneurysm that caused short-term memory loss. She had to retire from her 22-year career at Temple and discontinue her community activities, her daughter said.

Dr. McWhorter was an enthusiastic gardener, and made preserves for family and friends. She sang with the Fisk University Jubilee Singers in her youth and later sang solo or with groups whenever the opportunity arose, including singing small children to sleep, her daughter said.

She collected books and art, and had a special interest in the works of black American writers and artists.

Dr. McWhorter's husband died in 1996. She is survived by her daughter and a son, John.

A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. Saturday, March 5, at Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting, 100 E. Mermaid Lane.

Contact staff writer Sally A. Downey at 215-854-2913 or sdowney@phillynews.com.