Obituary: Sheila Waldorf Filan

Oct 6, 1940 — Nov. 12, 2024

Sheila Waldorf Filan passed away Nov. 12 at the age of 84. She had been a resident of Ashland since 1986.

An accomplished silk screener and painter at an early age, she also enjoyed fiber arts her entire life. 

Sheila was born in Burbank, California, the daughter of Frank Filan and Katherine Tyler Filan. Her father, a 1944 Pulitzer Prize recipient for photography, surely imparted his creative talents and approach to life to his young daughter.  

Sheila graduated from Immaculate Heart High School and the college of the same name in Los Angeles. After college, she married Jim Waldorf and had three children.

In the early 1970s, she divorced, moved to Springville, California, and opened a cafe called the Changing Times Cafe. The cafe featured an amazing menu but, after a few years, she was ready to move on.

Sheila moved to Brookings, Oregon, in 1976. While there she studied and obtained a massage therapy license. On a lark, in 1983, she worked on “Return of the Jedi” as a dresser for the Ewoks.

She also taught yoga classes and was a lifelong fan of both meditation and yoga.

While in Brookings, she was active in starting a co-op and building a new community of friends. She left Brookings when she chose to join her daughter, Jessica, who was attending college in Ashland at the time. 

During her years in Ashland, Sheila was active in Siskiyou Aikikai drumming, the Ashland Food Pantry, sewing and gardening groups. She taught in the fiber arts department at Southern Oregon University.

She founded the Ashland SoulCollage group (SoulCollage is an expressive arts practice done individually or in community) and continued facilitating that group until her death. Her interest in body work included acupressure and becoming a Feldenkrais practitioner. She also assisted with retreats for the Embodied Life, an integrated learning program founded by Russell Delman.

Sheila loved accompanying her son, Duffy, a professional golfer, on his PGA tours throughout the U.S.

Sheila is survived by her children: Jennifer (and Marty), Jessica (Russell) and Duffy (Missy), in addition to her cherished grandchildren: Tyler, Shea, Kelli, Justin, Grace and Quinn.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations in Sheila’s name to Friends of the Animals (FOTAS) Southern Oregon.