The mother of a 28-year-old Richland Two teacher who died from complications of COVID-19, has also died from the virus, according to family. Shirley Bannister was the Department Chair for Nursing at Midlands Tech and told NBC affiliate WIS in 2019 nursing was her “God-given passion.” “She finds more than 24 hours in the day, and I don’t know how she does it to make the world a better place,” said colleague Kelly Horn in 2019.Bannister lost her daughter Demi on Sept. 7, and she was hospitalized due to COVID-19 a couple of days later, sister-in-law Shirley Mills Bannister said.Mills Bannister, who says she loved sharing a first name with her relative, describes Bannister as a “wonderful, wonderful person.” She added her sister-in-law was, “certainly an angel on Earth, there is no doubt about that.”Shirley Bannister’s daughter was known as a “songbird” around the school she taught at, and Mills Bannister laughs as she said singing was not one of the elder Bannister’s skills.“She did do some mean lip-syncing, though,” Mills Bannister laughed.Midlands Technical College President Dr. Ronald L. Rhames released a statement regarding Bannister’s passing saying:“My heart is broken. Shirley was like an angel on Earth. Her life mission was caring for others. She earned her nursing degree from Midlands Technical College as a teen, went on to earn a master’s degree. Shirley eventually returned to MTC to teach nursing and impact the lives of hundreds of future healers in our community as chair of the MTC Nursing Department. While her death is devastating, her impact is everlasting. The entire MTC family offer her family support and our prayers.”Shirley is survived by her husband Dennis Bannister who also confirmed Shirley’s passing, but didn’t want to speak further at this time. Demi was Shirley’s only child.Shirley Bannister was 57 years old.Copyright 2020 WIS. All rights reserved.