Winifred (Teddy) Shuttleworth, 96, took her last breath in her room at Cottage Grove Place in Cedar Rapids on February 28, surrounded by her children Jeffrey, Jane, and Amy Shuttleworth and by friends, artist Peter Xiao and his wife Guoli. Her family had decorated the wall around her bed with drawings she had made, selected from the many sketchbooks she kept throughout her life, including portraits of family members and scenes from memorable family vacations. It was an apt setting, for Teddy loved nothing more than being in the company of family and friends discussing ideas, books, and art.
Teddy was born as Winifred Gilchrist Allen to Mavis Gilchrist Allen and Wilmot Allen in Des Moines on August 31, 1929. She earned her nickname “Teddy” when her older brother Benjamin Allen compared her to a Teddy Bear.
Teddy grew up in Laurens in northwest Iowa and was close to her Hakes and Gilchrist cousins and her grandmother, Ella Gilchrist, who all lived in town. However, most of her school years were split between Laurens and Washington, D.C., after her mother, Mavis, became secretary to her father, Fred C. Gilchrist, a Republican congressman who represented northwest Iowa from 1931 to 1945.
Splitting her school years between the small town of Laurens and the nation’s capital broadened her perspectives and curiosity about the world and helped fuel her lifelong interests in politics, ideas, art, and music.
Teddy spent her first two years of college at Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland, where she met several lifelong friends. She transferred to the University of Iowa for her final two years of college. It was there that she met William (Bill) Shuttleworth of Cedar Rapids, whom she ultimately would marry in 1951.
After Bill graduated from Yale Law School, he and Teddy settled in Cedar Rapids, where he joined the law firm Shuttleworth and Ingersoll, where his father, Vivian Craven Shuttleworth, was a senior partner. Teddy became involved in Cedar Rapids civic affairs, often serving in leadership roles with organizations such as the League of Women Voters, the Cedar Rapids Art Association, the Jane Boyd Community Center, the Junior League, and CSPS. Teddy and Bill joined the People’s Unitarian Church, and Teddy was active in church affairs, serving as board president at one time. In addition, she and Bill were longtime members of the Cedar Rapids Country Club.
Teddy helped found what she and other members called the Book and Bottle Club, which gathered monthly for lively discussions of important books. The group included several Coe College professors, lawyers, a psychiatrist, a doctor, an architect, holocaust survivors, and several businessmen.
Teddy and Bill had three children, welcoming son Jeff in 1956, daughter Jane in 1958, and daughter Amy in 1962.
After Jeff left for college in 1974, Teddy earned a Master’s Degree in Art History at the University of Iowa. She and her partner Shirley Wyrick started an innovative art consulting business, ArtWorks, that represented local artists, helping them sell their work to professional offices, banks, and individuals.
Teddy also had a long involvement with Coe College, where Bill served on the Board of Trustees for many years. She was a counselor in Coe’s Advising and Counseling Office and also taught art history for one semester.
Lake Okoboji was a lifelong and important part of Teddy’s life. She spent nearly every summer there, first in rental cottages with her family and later at the family cottage her Gilchrist grandparents purchased in 1945. She loved swimming, sailing, golf, tennis, painting and birdwatching there, and hosting gatherings with family and friends. On her 80th birthday, she even swam across the lake.
Teddy’s artistic talent also included music: she played the trumpet in high school and was in a recorder group in her adult years.
In addition to her parents, Teddy was preceded in death by her brother Benjamin Allen, husband William Shuttleworth, and son-in-law Hank Miguel (Jane). She is survived by her children Jeff (Cecilia Gaerlan), Jane, and Amy (Benjamin Trachsel) Shuttleworth; her grandchildren Judy (Colin) Fisher and Will (Kayla) Philips; great-grandsons Charlie and Francis Fisher; nephew Alexander Craven Sarkis, and her half-sister Christina Cochrane.
Teddy’s children thank her caregivers Rose Hayslett, Lindsey Miller, Kasi Crusoe, and Christina Juma, Dr. Melanie Stahlberg, and Mercy Hospice for their excellent care in her later years. Her children also are grateful for the wonderful staff at Cottage Grove Place, which provides an enriched environment for its residents.
In lieu of flowers, Teddy’s children ask people to consider giving to one of her favorite nonprofits, such as the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, Indian Creek Nature Center, the Peoples Unitarian Church, the African American Museum of Iowa, the History Center, the League of Women Voters, Four Oaks Family and Children Services, CSPS, the Friends of Lakeside Lab or any organization that reflects her passion for the arts, social justice, and the environment.
A date for Teddy’s service is still pending.
