Nonotuck Resource Associates is sad to announce the recent passing of former employee Shirley Plowucha. Hired at Nonotuck in 1983, [then known as Community Homes for Children] Shirley worked her way up from the position of Business Manager to CFO to Executive Vice President of Finance over 35 years before her retirement in 2020.
“Known state-wide simply as ‘Shirley’ she weathered the significant changes in the agency, The wholesale resignation of the organization’s administration in the summer of 1987, the hiring of me that fall, our name change to Nonotuck Resource Associates, Inc., the revolutionary closing of 15 group homes and the move of 55 people into shared living between 1991 and 1993, the start in 2006 of Nonotuck’s Adult Family Care Program, between 2009 -2011 the era of technological advancement at the agency, the move to rate setting and the rapid growth of Nonotuck,” says Nonotuck CEO/President George H. Fleischner. “Shirley oversaw the Fiscal matters of Nonotuck as we grew from a Northampton centric to all of western Mass, to Central Mass, to every corner of the state. Meanwhile, while in the Fiscal office she saw the financial growth of Nonotuck develop more than 30 times as large as was when she was hired. Shirley’s legacy is secure. We salute her work, dedication, commitment and love for her job.”
Born November 14, 1951 in Northampton, MA, Shirley grew up in Florence, MA, a graduate of Northampton High School. She was a long-time resident of Easthampton, before moving to Delmar, New York in 2020.
Shirley was an active member of the Easthampton Rod and Gun Club for many years, volunteering for fishing derbies—including the Junior Trout Fishing Derby—and participating in their pitch club. She loved playing cards, talking to all the neighborhood dogs, and visiting with family and friends, and volunteered for a short time at the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society in Menands, NY.
Gifts in Shirley's memory may be given to the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society in Menands, NY or to the Easthampton Rod and Gun Club for the Junior Trout Fishing Derby in Easthampton, MA.
Learn how Nonotuck developed a love-based ideology of care. We started our shared living program as an alternative to group homes for people with disabilities. Instead, Shared Living creates genuine life transformation for people with disabilities, as well as families and communities. The true power of caregiving is found through hospitality, authenticity, and love.
