Shirley A. Gunderson

Shirley was born in Canistota, South Dakota, to Vernon and Matilda “Mattie” Eichhorn, the middle child in a family of 3 children. She graduated from Washington High School and Augustana College, both in Sioux Falls, SD. She met her future husband, Harold Gunderson, at a relative’s wedding. They graduated together from Augustana and married in 1957. Shirley began teaching high school in Council Bluffs, Iowa and they started a family. They had three daughters, Teri, Susan and Wendy. The family lived in several places in the Midwest (Iowa, Minnesota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Texas) before settling in Yankton, SD in 1973. Once the kids were all in school, Shirley returned to working outside the home as a volunteer coordinator at Sacred Heart Hospital and the account manager in the family’s G & G Storage business. In 1979 Shirley and Harold opened The Court House racquetball courts where she managed the facility’s operations. In 1986 they sold the business and moved to Harlingen, Texas where Shirley returned to teaching English at Texas State Technical Institute.Shirley was a crafter--she loved to sew, cross stitch, crochet, paint, quilt, and could find ways to make cute items out of anything. She helped with craft committees that supported various charities wherever she lived. Shirley was active in the Lutheran Church, participating in Ladies Auxiliary, Altar Guild, Bell Choir, Sunday School, Vacation Bible School and several fund raisers and craft fairs. Harold and Shirley spent summers in Minnesota caring for their grandchildren, Anna and Henry. Shirley loved her family with her whole heart. She was a wonderful wife, mother, and grandmother, attending school events where her daughters, and later her grandchildren, participated, including travel to band concerts, racquetball tournaments, soccer, and baseball games.Shirley received a heart transplant in 1993 when she was 57 years old. She was the 500th heart transplant recipient. Her family is thankful for the extra 30 years they had with her because of this donation. She made the most of those years, living her life to the fullest. In her later years Shirley had dementia and Harold lovingly cared for her. In 2018, the two moved to San Antonio, TX to have more support for Shirley, and to be closer to family. The two of them were happily married for 64 years. She was preceded in death by her husband Harold, her parents, Matilda and Vernon Eichhorn, her stepmother Alice Eichhorn, and siblings Dianne Boltjes and Robert Eichhorn. She is survived by her three daughters and their husbands Teri (Dwight Nelson), Susan (Philip Kazen) and Wendy (Rodney Yoshida), two grandchildren, Anna Nelson and Henry Nelson, sisters-in-law Helen Gunderson and Myrna Eichhorn, dozens of nieces, nephews, grand nieces, grand nephews, and hundreds of friends. Shirley was a loving wife, mother, and friend, always going the extra mile to help others. She was kind and generous with her time and love.A memorial service will be held at a later date in Shirley’s home state of South Dakota. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to St. Paul Lutheran Church, 602 Morgan Blvd., Harlingen, TX, 78550 or the charity of the donor’s choice. Her family was blessed to have thirty extra years with Shirley because of a generous organ donor. Please consider organ donation.