Dr. Anne Louise Frysinger Shifflet, 93, died in Harrisonburg, VA on July 29, 2026. Born March 15, 1933, in Hershey, PA, she was the daughter of the late Hiram James and Irene Keller Royer Frysinger and the wife of Kenneth Earl Shifflet for 71 years before his death in 2025.

Dr. Shifflet was a lifelong learner, graduating from Bridgewater College with a B.A. degree in Music and earning M.A. degrees from American University (in Music) and Hood College (in Psychology). Her Ph.D. in Human Development and Gerontology was granted by the University of Maryland in 1983. She taught for fourteen years at Middletown Middle School in Frederick County (MD), at Frederick Community College and was a Lecturer in the College of Education at the University of Maryland.

A church organist for 79 years, Anne began playing in 1947 as a teenager at Hanoverdale Church of the Brethren and continued to the spring of 2026 at the Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community (VMRC) in Harrisonburg, VA. She served as music director and/or organist at nine different churches in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia for Brethren, Episcopalian, Lutheran, Presbyterian and Mennonite congregations. Her longest stint was at Glade Valley Church of the Brethren in Walkersville, MD from 1971-2003.

Dr. Shifflet loved research and writing. Her first book, about a children's choir, was published in 1968. A look at church music history in Frederick, MD 1745-1845 followed in 1972. Her most extensive work, Pennsylvania German Ancestors, was published in 1999 under the Genealogical Proof Standard. Her genealogical research started in county courthouses and regional historical societies in the mid-Atlantic states. Delving deeper, Anne taught herself to read and speak German, then traveled to Switzerland and Germany to investigate church archives and cemeteries. Later she added three books on the histories of her own family.

Anne was an early adopter of home computing, starting with a Tandy TRS-80, which she used for word processing, graphic arts and publishing. After moving to VMRC, she used her writing and graphic design skills to help launch, promote and sustain the annual VMRC Juried Art Exhibition.

In addition to her husband Ken, Anne was preceded in death by her sister Faye Glover, brothers Galen, Roy and Carl Frysinger, and grandson Eamon Shifflet.

Surviving are four children: Allen Shifflet and his wife Sarah; Gail Boardway and her husband Gordon; Brenda Ratcliff and her husband Gary; and Drew Shifflet; seven grandchildren: Paul Shifflet, Anna Greig, Georgia Boardway, Preston Boardway, Christopher Ratcliff, Leif Shannon and Brier Shifflet; and seven great-grandchildren.

Interment will be at Hanoverdale Church of the Brethren cemetery in Hummelstown, PA at a later date. Memorial contributions may be made to Heifer International, www.heifer.org.

Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.GrandleFuneralHome.com.