Shirley Marion Beckwith

Shirley was the eldest daughter of Tyrus (Ty) Raymond Cobb and "Charlie" Marion Lombard Cobb. Although she was born in Detroit, MI where her father was a member of the Detroit Tigers Baseball team, Shirley considered herself a native of Georgia. The family spent all summers and holidays at their home in Georgia.

In 1938 Shirley opened a small independent bookstore on University Blvd. in Palo Alto, California, "Shirley Cobb Books." Her store grew and expanded and was a popular meeting place for university students and staff. Shirley was known for her independence, feisty attitude and unique collection of books. She only sold hard-back books, and she had a thriving business in shipping books all over the world. Shirley personified personalized book selling and was a much loved part of the cultural life of downtown Palo Alto. The bookstore was open for more that 38 years.

Shirley took a leave of absence from her bookstore to become a Red Cross volunteer during and after World War II. She served in Italy, France and Japan. In 1946, she was awarded the highest military award a civilian can receive, the Medal of Freedom. According to news stories from that time, Shirley received the award for her "high standards of moral conduct and devotion to duty.... in elevating the morale of the troops" in France and Italy.

Shirley met her future husband, Dixie Beckworth, when she was assigned by the Red Cross to serve in Japan after the surrender. Dixie was an enlisted soldier, and his job was to be Shirley's driver. As she told the story -- Dixie was not happy with the assignment at first but after they got to know each other - the rest was history. Dixie and Shirley were married in 1953 in Carmel, CA until his death in 1965. Shirley never remarried.

Shirley was stricken with a debilitating stroke in 1971. After that, she was a figurehead at her shop until 1985 when she closed it down.* Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Oct 25 2021, 2:53:46 UTC