Shirley Catherine Sanders

Shirley Catherine (Stansfield) Sanders died peacefully at 4:32 p.m. October 30 at the Woodlands Creek Retirement Community in Clive, Iowa. Born in Northville, SD, to Reuben and Mary Anna (Forsyth) Stansfield on April 19, 1923, she grew up on several farms, including the Granite View Farm in Ortonville, MN. She graduated from Ortonville High School in 1940.

After attending Hamlin University in St. Paul, MN for two years, Shirley married Robert E. Sanders of Sarles, ND on December 26, 1942. They lived and worked in St. Paul, MN and McKeesport, PA, before buying a farm in Sarles, ND, where they lived from 1946 – 1955.

Shirley and Bob raised four children, and moved to Jamestown, ND in 1955, where Shirley was a housewife until she returned to work as a legal secretary in 1964. Shirley received certification as a Professional Legal Secretary and was named North Dakota’s Professional Legal Secretary of the Year in 1987. She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church, and participated in its many activities, including the Stephen's Ministry.

Shirley loved camping, fishing, canoeing, quilting, music of all kinds, playing the piano and traveling. She traveled extensively across the United States and Canada, twice to Great Britain and once to Scandinavia and to Mexico.

In 2004, she moved to Urbandale, IA, where she joined the Urbandale Westkirk Presbyterian Church. She was in a book club at the St. Andrews apartments, until she moved to the Woodlands Creek Assisted Living in Clive in 2013.

She is survived by her four children: Becky (Bernie) Koebernick of Urbandale, IA, Kate “Kathy” (Jack) Earley of Loveland, OH, Mike (Susie) Sanders of Hood Canal, WA, and Steve “Leo” (Karen) Sanders of Minneapolis, MN; six grandchildren: Anne, Bill, and Bobby Koebernick, Patrick (Lisha) Sanders, Jeff (Nancy) Sanders, and Ralph (Carolyn) Gillespie; six great-grandchildren; nine great-great-grandchildren; and many beloved nieces and nephews. Shirley was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Bob; her siblings: Wayne, Craig, Helen, Russell and Marjorie; two nephews, Mitchell and Paul; and one grandson, Mickey.

The family deeply thanks Silvercrest of Woodlands Creek for their wonderful, loving care of Shirley.

Services will be held Saturday, November 11, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. at Westkirk Presbyterian Church, 2700 Colby Woods Drive in Urbandale, IA with visitation 1 hour prior.

Memorial contributions may be directed to Westkirk Presbyterian Church. Condolences may be expressed at www.HamiltonsFuneralHome.com.

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