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Shirley Ann Hovde

November 20, 1928 - November 18, 2016

Shirley Ann Hovde, 87, of Roland, died November 18, 2016 at Bethany Life in Story City. She died peacefully following a 2 year battle with cancer. A Celebration of her Life will be held at 2:00 pm on Friday, November 25th at Bergen Lutheran Church in Roland. The family will receive friends 1 hour prior to the service, starting at 1:00. Burial will follow at the Roland Cemetery.
Shirley was born November 20th, 1928, the daughter of Joseph and Mildred (Christenson) Hovde at their home in rural Harding County. As a young girl, the family moved to Roland where they made their home. She graduated from Roland High School in 1949.
In high school, Superintendent C.P. Thompson was responsible for introducing typing to Shirley. As a result, she was the top typist in the school and went on to do home typing for Donnelly’s. She was then hired by the Iowa Highway Commission to work summers and it turned into a permanent position. She retired after 44 years from the Iowa Highway Commission at the age of 72 after a successful career.
Shirley was an active member at Bergen Lutheran Church. She was involved in the Lutheran World Relief by tying quilts and involved in the annual Fall Festival baking potato cakes.
Her community work included working at the Senior Citizen Center in Story City, being an active member of Watoni and the Friends of Service. Her work involved making cotton candy at the Roland Story softball and baseball games and numerous tournaments.
She was a special aunt to her nieces and nephew. She saw to it that each of one of them had a handmade quilt made by Grandma Hovde, her mom, and Shirley. They were hand quilted by the talented quilters at Bergan Lutheran Church.
Shirley was an avid sports fan and enjoyed in her past time watching all sporting events. She was a friend to everyone.
Shirley is survived by her sister Marilyn Thompson of Boone; sister in law Georgia Hovde of Webster City; nephew Paul Thompson of Boone, nieces Lori (Kent) Fehr of Omaha, Karen (David) Noftsger of Clive, Debbie Lindeman of Rockwell City, Sharon (Paul) Gerr of Maplewood, MN and four great nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother, LaVerne Hovde and brother-in-law Ron Thompson.
The family wishes to express their thanks to all the individuals and organizations that assisted Shirley in her later years.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the church.