Birth date: Feb 14, 1953 Death date: Oct 10, 2020
On Saturday, October 10, 2020, Shirley Petersen, beloved sister of six surviving siblings, went to heaven at age 67. Shirley Petersen was born on February 14, 1953, in Grundy Center, IA to Rev. Henry and Irene Petersen. She was d Read Obituary
I learned a lot about what it meant to be a loving and welcoming person from Shirley. It was so heartwarming to have her come to stand by you on a Sunday morning, tell you she loved you and then wait for a hug and response back. She was so generous with her hugs and smiles, and had a welcome spirit to all. What a wonderful example of God's love. Praying for God's comfort for all the family. She will be missed.
Don and Family, From the time Shirley moved to Coopersville and thru COVID Shirley has been missed in our church. At church services when the pastor would address Shirley and Shirley would respond loudly back to him it warmed the heart to hear her and to know that she was a part of the family of God. There were occasions when a ride was needed for Shirley to attend church so I would pick her up in Spring Lake. After church we would have dinner and shirley would bring up the Beatles. We then would listen to The Beatles/1962-1966 CD. Shirley would sing along and dance a bit. Music made her happy. And if you could give her a can of pop a big smile would appear. Shirley's hugs and loving self will be missed. Dave and Karen Lankhorst.
Don and family, we are very sorry to hear of Shirley's passing. She was so sweet always giving everyone hugs and telling everyone that she loved them. Her smile and laugh were definitely contagious.
Aaron and Pamela Parker
Thank you all for your wonderful words of comfort, remembrances, and expressions of love. A very special thanks to Pastor Bob for officiating Shirley's graveside committal service this morning. My siblings and I did not ask him to do this; he simply and graciously volunteered.
Shirley was my blood sister and, most importantly, my sister in Christ. I look forward to one day joining her, my brother Dale, Mom and Dad, and all of God's people throughout history in heaven in the presence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be all of the glory, forever and ever!
Thank you all for your kind support. It’s appreciated. I was her niece and she was a good and perfect aunt. This has been a time of grieving for us. I even created a local grieving group.
Shirley was a joyful, energetic member of the body of Christ. She was a blessing to our congregation. We, the members of Little Farms Chapel, send to you our prayers in this time of sadness, but we celebrate Shirley's victory in Jesus. We will gather at 9am on Monday the 19th for a burial service. Pastor Bob Van Manen
We want to express our sympathy to the family at the passing away of Shirley.
We've just knew her for a short time as we picked her up to attend Little Farms Chapel and had come to love her and her smile and the joy she found in attending church and just loving all the people.
She is now in perfect joy and we celebrate that. She will always be in our hearts and we are so thankful for knowing her.
Pete and Jan VanStrien
Dear Don and family,
We were vary saddened to see the news about Shirley in the paper. We are thankful that we were able to get to know her when we lived next to your parents, and then Don. We enjoyed listening to her sing and watching her walk by our house with her mountain dew. She always would say hello and share her gleaming smile. We know that she is in God's hands now. We didn't know she was a Beatles and Boston fan. But knew she loved her coffee and mountain dew. But more importantly we know she loved all of you, everyone around her and the Lord. We will be keeping all of you in our prayers. Don, we know you are not on Waverly anymore. We would love to catch up with you where ever you are. Please feel free to send us an email at mbngkelly@hotmail.com Take care and know that we are feeling your loss. Love, Mary and Brian Kelly
I'm sad to hear of Shirley's passing. Two things I remember so clearly. First was her easy smile which brought light, second was a lesson that it's important to say "I love you" to people dear to our hearts. Shirley is missed.
Oh, if you've met her, you love her! Shirley and i got to know each other when i finally left factory work to start doing community living support. What a pleasure it was to volunteer at the north ottawa hospital cafeteria together, and then later see her everyday at kandu. Many friends will miss her smile and laughter!
