Shirley Stier

SHIRLEY STIER

November 16, 1931 – August 22, 2019  (age 87)

          Shirley Ann (Dorn) Stier of Belle Plaine, Minnesota passed away at the Lutheran Home in Belle Plaine Thursday evening, August 22, 2019, with her family by her side.

          Funeral Services will be at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, August 31, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Belle Plaine with Pastor Tim Redfield officiating.  Visitation will be 3:00-7:00 p.m., Friday, August 30, 2019 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Belle Plaine.  There will also be a visitation at the church on Saturday beginning at 10:00 a.m.   A luncheon will be served at the church following the graveside service at Oakwood Cemetery in Belle Plaine.

          Shirley Ann Stier was born on November 16, 1931 on the family farm in Spring Lake Township near Prior Lake, Minnesota, to Arnhold and Ella (Klingberg) Dorn.  She was baptized on December 6, 1931 at Immanuel (Fish Lake) Lutheran Church, and was confirmed there May 27, 1945.  She attended the parochial school at the church through the eighth grade.  The farm was on the border of the Jordan and Shakopee school districts, so she attended Jordan high school for two years, and then completed high school and graduated from Shakopee High School in 1949.

          Following graduation, Shirley worked as an order clerk at the old Sears store and office building off of Lake Street in Minneapolis.  At a dance in Chaska in June of 1949 she first met Loren Stier of Belle Plaine when he asked her to dance to the ‘Blue Skirt Waltz.’  They were married on August 8, 1953 at Immanuel Lutheran Church.

          Shirley and Loren made their home in Belle Plaine where they raised their four children, Leon, John, Mary Ann, and Larry.  They also welcomed into the family Kathy and Mary Kelsey after the death of their mother (and Shirley’s friend) Joanne in 1973. 

          In the early years of their marriage Shirley continued working at Sears, and then later as an overnight aide at the Lutheran Home in Belle Plaine, at the glass factory in Shakopee, and at the plastic factory in Belle Plaine.  She then initiated a resident activities program, now called Recreational Therapy, at the Lutheran Home in Belle Plaine.  She was a pioneer in that work, and Scott and Carver Counties hired her as an Occupational Therapist to start similar activity departments in eight other care centers. 

          At the same time, she was also driving school bus for the Belle Plaine schools and working with Loren in their trucking business.  In 1967 Loren and Shirley bought the school bus business from Loren’s father Otto, and from then on Shirley worked full time with Loren as partners managing “Stier Bus and Truck Company.”  Shirley retired in 2002 after suffering a stroke. 

          Shirley was involved in many community activities.  She was a charter member of the Community Ambulance Service, a member the Ladies Auxilary of the Fire Department and American Legion, and delivered Meals on Wheels.

          Shirley enjoyed cooking, canning, collecting antiques, card club, traveling, and most of all, spending time with her family

          Shirley is survived by Loren, her husband of 66 years; children Leon (Nancy), John (Mary), and Mary Ann (Jim) Koonst, all of Belle Plaine, Larry (Julie) of Prior Lake, Mary (Tim) Koch of Savage, and Kathy (Steve) Huff of Leesburg, Virginia; by thirteen grandchildren and thirteen great-grandchildren; by sister-in-law Martha Dorn of Prior Lake, Minnesota; and by sister-in-law and brother-in-law Leona and Roland Jordahl of Pelican Rapids, Minnesota.  She is preceded in death by her parents, sister Della and her husband Elmer, and brother, LeRoy.

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