Shelly Lynn DeMay

Shelly Lynn DeMay, 54, of Masury, Ohio passed away on March 21, 2024, at St Elizabeth/Mercy Health - Youngstown in the arms of her husband.

She was born in Sharon in 1969, an only child of Robert and JoAnn Jones.  She was preceded in death by her father Robert “Bob” Jones and is survived by her Husband Bryan DeMay and her Mother JoAnn Jones.  She enjoyed playing softball and was team captain in middle school, attending Hermitage High School and graduating with honors in 1987.   Subsequently, she attended Penn State - Shenango Campus for two years and ultimately earned a BA in Education from Slippery Rock University, graduating Summa Cum Laude in 1991.  

Shelly was an extremely dedicated and nurturing Secondary Level English teacher working at Crestline High School in Ohio and Sharpsville High School in Pennsylvania.  She took extraordinary pride in being a teacher and forever cherished fond memories of instructing some of her most gifted students in Advanced Placement English courses.  She regularly attended mass at Notre Dame Church in Hermitage and assisted with Devotion occasionally.  Shelly enjoyed caring for her rescued cats and she was extremely passionate about the wonderful dogs she was fortunate to have owned over the years, loving her daily walks with them around home and often on trips to state parks.  Her selflessness and compassion for others was exemplified in her desire to become an organ donor, in the hope that others in desperate need may benefit from her loss.  Her wish to donate was honored and hopefully, in a sense, part of her may live on.       

Shelly first met the love of her life and future husband, Bryan DeMay, in their early teens some 40 years ago in 1984 through mutual friends while searching for an infamous old graveyard.  It was the quintessential “Love at First Sight” story with their lives being irrevocably entwined in devotion to one another through eight more years of high school/college and 32 years of marriage starting in 1992, that only bonded their souls together more with each passing year.  Although they never discovered the allusive cemetery on that life changing first encounter long ago, many years later they ended up purchasing and building a beautiful home on a rugged track of land that actually included that very cemetery – fate!  The intense vacuum left in the wake of her untimely and tragic passing will never subside for those who were truly blessed to have known her kind and generous soul.   You will forever be missed “Mare!”

Services will be private for immediate family. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a memorial donation to the ASPCA or your local animal shelter, in Shelly’s name.  

The family is in the care of Lane Funeral Home, Madasz Chapel. Online condolences can be made at www.lanefuneralhomes.com.