On Friday, Aug. 6, 2021, Charlene Ann “Sea” Vanderslice passed away peacefully at the age of 75.
Charlene Vanderslice, 75, passed away Aug. 6. A celebration of her life will take place Oct. 23.
Charlene was born on July 11, 1946 in Haverhill, Massachusetts to Alvin and Charlotte (Fuller) Dyes. She attended Pentuket High School, UMass, the Academy Modern, and studied Hatha and Raja yoga in Boston, meditation in Tibet and feng shui in Hong Kong.
She is a graduate of the Feng Shui Institute of America and a professional member of Feng Shui International. In 1971, she met and married Ozair Shareef in New Orleans, with whom she sailed around the world twice, climbed the Himalayas, completed safaris in Africa, and studied the great religions of the world.
She fine-tuned her expertise as an artist painting doorways and vineyards in Provence, rice paddies in Thailand, tea gardens in Ceylon, yachts in St. Barths, churches in Brazil, colorful market scenes in Senegal, and safari scenes in Mozambique.
While living in Pakistan, she taught English to women behind the veil and excelled in painting miniatures of local scenes, occasionally using the eyelash of a peacock as a brush. Having completed these adventures before the age of 27, she paused to raise her son, Dara Ali Shareef.
In 1984, she married Wilbur B. Vanderslice in the U.S. Virgin Islands and settled in Darien.
Recognized widely for beauty inside and out, she was crowned prom queen in high school. Her diverse professional career included a stint modeling sportswear for Nike, teaching yoga overseas and various management roles with Georgia Pacific.
Mid-career, she transitioned into real estate. In addition to receiving awards for her real estate accomplishments with William Pitt/Sothebys in Darien, she developed and taught the “Power or Place,” based on Feng Shui, as a critical element of her real estate practice. She was a reiki master and a therapeutic touch healer for many fortunate clients.
In 2004, she retired with her husband, Bill, to the coast of Maine. Her beach stone labyrinth there is listed for visitations by the Labyrinth Society of which she was a member. She became an ocean advocate, changed her name to “Sea” and used her incredible talents with watercolor (largely using seawater) to paint all varieties of underwater life, with the proceeds going to the Maine Marine Environmental Research Institute to support “save the ocean” projects.
Her second book, “The Beauty Beneath the Waves,” an accumulation of her artwork, remains to be finished. Her first book, “The Mermaid Stone,” a novel on good versus evil, is awaiting publication.
She was an avid reader and always found time to pursue her passion for the outdoors — skiing, dancing, beach walks, tennis, boating, snorkeling with sea turtles and especially golf.
Charlene was preceded in death by her father, Alvin, her mother, Charlotte, and brother, William. She is survived by her husband, Wilbur, her son, Dara, and her daughter-in-law, Kimberly, her granddaughters, Mikaila and Lillienne, her sister, Cheryl, and several nieces and nephews.
A celebration of life ceremony will be held 3 p.m., Oct. 23, at the Anderson McQueen Funeral Home on Dr. Martin Luther King St. North, St. Petersburg, Florida. To view Charlene’s service on-line, please visit andersonmcqueen.com under Charlene’s obituary page.
Donations can be made in her honor to the Alzheimer’s Association and the Maine Marine Environmental Research Institute in Blue Hill, Maine.
— an obituary from Anderson McQueen Funeral Home, as published by the Tampa Bay Times on Legacy.com