On July 7, early in the morning, Shirley Hallam, aged 77, passed away peacefully in her sleep. She had been in home hospice care for six weeks following an acute failure of her heart’s mitral valve, and cared for by her husband of 47 years, Witold Rybczynski. Shirley and Witold lived in an old stone house in Chestnut Hill from 1993 to 2017, when they moved to a loft in Center City. Shirley was born in Montreal, half-French and half-English. Widely traveled—she accompanied Witold on architectural research trips to India, China, Mexico, and Central America. She was an accomplished cook and an avid reader—she edited her husband’s books, always with a keen ear and a discerning intelligence. “We will remember Shirley's impatience with pretense, her straight-talk, her cool clothes, and the warmth she projected,” remembers a friend.
