Gertrude “Gwin” Coffin Shelton, a resident of Claremont since 1941, died on Saturday, April 18, 2009 in Claremont, 3 weeks shy of her 96th birthday.  

On May 5, 1913, Ms. Shelton was born to Winthrop and Gertrude Coffin and grew up in Brookline and Duxbury, Massachusetts.  

Her parents, believers in progressive education, were important supporters of the Beaver Country Day School in Brookline, which young Ms. Shelton attended with great enthusiasm from 1922 to 1931. 

Sailing in Duxbury Bay was one of her passions, and she excelled at it, becoming the Massachusetts Girls’ Sailing Champion at age 15 as well as captain of the Duxbury Junior Yacht Club Crew.

Following high school, Ms. Shelton attended Vassar College, her mother’s alma mater, graduating in 1935 with a degree in geology.

An accomplished flutist, while at Vassar Ms. Shelton studied with the principal flutist of the New York Philharmonic and performed in chamber music concerts with Vassar faculty.  

“She was proud to carry a Vassar College tote bag as her only purse,” noted her family in a remembrance.

Thriving as an athlete, musician and student in her youth and young adulthood, Ms. Shelton’s daughter, Heidi Lynch, remarked that the most significant influence on her early endeavors and successes were her parents.

“They were absolutely remarkable people,” Ms. Lynch said. “Their standards were very high in terms of what they expected of the children, and, probably, my mother was bright and able and willing.”

“They were a very cultured family,” continued Ms. Lynch, “where art and music were just as important as outdoor activities and everything else.”

At the summertime Surrette School of Music in Concord, Massachusetts, Ms. Shelton met her future husband, John S. Shelton. They were married in 1937 and lived in New Haven, Connecticut while Dr. Shelton worked on his PhD in geology at Yale University.  During their time in New Haven, their first 2 children were born. 

In 1941, Ms. Shelton and her family moved to Claremont where Dr. Shelton became a professor of geology at Pomona College, his alma mater.  Claremont became Ms. Shelton’s home for the rest of her life. Here, she had 3 more children and devoted herself totally to her family and to the community around her.

“Her lifelong dream was to have 5 children. She had that in her mind even while growing up. She just felt that was going to be her number,” commented her daughter. “She always admired families who had a lot of children.”

Inspired by American nutritionist and whole foods advocate Adelle Davis (1904-1974), Ms. Shelton provided the most healthful food for her family, always making homemade bread, limiting sugar and sweets and using whole grains and fresh foods long before such things became common. 

“I don’t remember there ever being a day when we didn’t have homemade bread,” Ms. Lynch said.

Ms. Shelton’s home, which was so often aromatic with fresh bread, was always open to college students, to friends of the children and to many others.  Chamber music groups played frequently in her home to the delight of her children who went to sleep to these sounds.  And, following in the footsteps of her parents, she made sure her children all had music lessons as part of their regular ongoing education.

Because education was of great concern to Ms. Shelton, she was determined to find and support the best possible schools for her children and others in the community.  Putting philosophy into action, she helped found Foothill Country Day School and the Vivian Webb School for Girls.  She served as a trustee on the Board of Governors for The Webb Schools.

For numerous organizations, Ms. Shelton served as a very active and committed volunteer. She participated in the American Field Service foreign exchange program, hosting a Swedish high school student for the 1958-59 academic year.  Over the next decade with the AFS, she held numerous positions with increasing responsibilities, finally attaining the position of western area representative for the USA and being named an international trustee. 

In the 60s, she helped found and operate the first local Planned Parenthood Clinic with Joe Griggs, MD, a longtime Claremont physician. People were sometimes surprised that Ms. Shelton, as a mother of 5, volunteered with Planned Parenthood, explained her daughter.

“Her response,” said Ms. Lynch, “was always ‘I am a strong believer that every parent should have the number of children they truly want and can afford.’ She wanted to make sure that young women didn’t have children if they weren’t ready, but also wanted to help families plan for any number of children they wanted.”

Always opting to volunteer instead of obtaining employment, this lifelong choice of Ms. Shelton’s stemmed from her father’s philosophy that “paying jobs should be for those who need it; those who don’t shouldn’t accept a salary.”

“He didn’t mind if his daughters wanted to work for one organization or another, but they should not accept pay because they didn’t need it,” explained Ms. Shelton’s daughter. “Do whatever you want to do, but don’t accept pay.” 

Ms. Shelton had a lifelong, deep appreciation of art, which she expressed in many ways.  She took various art classes at Pomona College, Scripps College and Claremont Graduate School (now University) and developed her own unique art style.  Her colorful, abstract watercolors won awards in local art shows in Pomona as well as in Duxbury, Massachusetts. 

Also an avid art collector, as was her father (her grandfather was the painter Charles Burleigh), Ms. Shelton bought works by well-known local artists while preserving and caring for much of her father’s collection.  For more than 50 years, she was a member of the Scripps College Fine Arts Foundation, volunteering as a docent and serving as its president from 1981 to 1983.

In 1969, Ms. Shelton and her husband divorced. Subsequently, she enjoyed independent travel, going to Africa and the Galapagos and buying a motor home—her beloved “Lazy Daze”—which she drove every summer for many years to her Duxbury "Salt-box" house.  She camped and visited her children en route and kept up this routine until she was 87.  

At age 75, she moved to Mt. San Antonio Gardens, a place she had chosen years before, where she could maintain her independence but also have lifetime care as needed.  Many of her Claremont and Pomona College acquaintances made the same choice, so her longtime circle of close friends surrounded her.

Ms. Shelton’s children expressed great admiration for the way their mother lived her life.

“Gwin was a woman of action who lived by the ‘glass half full’ philosophy,” wrote her daughter, Lucy Shelton, in a remembrance.

“She put her passions and beliefs into practice, which led to an amazingly rich environment for her children and made her an extremely valuable member of the community and beyond,” wrote another daughter, Nancy Nylander.

“She is loved and remembered with awe by her 5 children: Nancy Nylander, Heidi Lynch, Jay Shelton, Lucy Shelton and David Shelton,” shared the family.

Ms. Shelton was preceded in death by her brother, Winthrop Coffin of Duxbury, Massachusetts; by her sister, Hannah Coffin Smith of West Hartford, Connecticut; and by her former husband, John S. Shelton of La Jolla. 

She is survived by her 5 children, 10 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren.

No services are planned. 

Memorial contributions may be made to the Scripps College Fine Arts Foundation, 1030 Columbia Ave., Claremont CA 91711; or to Planned Parenthood, 434 W. 33rd St., New York, NY 10001.