Obituary of Shirley Nelson

A funeral service for Shirley Nelson, 89, of Lake Park and formerly of Spirit Lake, will be held Friday, January 3, 2020, at 2:00 PM at Turner Jenness Funeral Home in Spirit Lake. Burial will be at Lakeview Cemetery in Spirit Lake. Visitation will be Friday, January 3, 2020 at 1:00 PM until the service starts at Turner Jenness Funeral Home in Spirit Lake. Shirley (Culbertson) (Haagenson) Nelson, daughter of Merle and Edna (Meyer) Culbertson, was born November 7, 1930 in Iowa. She received her education in the small town of Lone Rock & Seneca, Iowa graduating from high school in Seneca/Ringsted, Iowa. Shirley attended one year of college at Waldorf College in Forest City, Iowa studying to be a teacher when she met and married Herbert Haagenson. Shirley had four children who all preceded her in death: Pamela (Roger) (Haagenson) Mendonsa in 2004, David (Barbara) in 2007, Bobby in 1968 and Kevin (Carol) Haagenson in 1983. Shirley moved to the Bay Area with Herb. After their divorce, she moved back to Spirit Lake, Iowa where she met and married Bill Nelson. She worked with her sister, LaRue Bradshaw, at Lue’s Driftwood and also spent time working as a cook at the Gingham Inn. In April 2014, she moved to Pearl Valley in Lake Park where she could receive assistance in daily activities. Everyone remembers her as an avid reader and her love for playing cards. She enjoyed watching baseball and the Vikings. Shirley loved to grow flowers every spring and had fun finding new ways to keep squirrels from her birdfeeders. Shirley passed away peacefully on December 30, 2019 in Lake Park, Iowa at eighty-nine years of age. She is survived by nine grandchildren, Matt Mendonsa, Mike Mendonsa, Greg Haagenson, Jeff Haagenson, Jeanene Haagenson, Christine Haagenson-Cordes, Julie Haagenson, Kevin Haagenson and Nicole Langham; and 12 great grandchildren; two step-sons, Rick Nelson and Jim Nelson; siblings, Kathleen Quastad, Sylvia Tabor, Garry Culbertson, Sandra Walsh, Danny Culbertson and Connie Monk. Shirley was preceded in death by her husband, Bill; four children and their spouses; one step-son, Don Nelson; brothers, Francis, Lyle, Gordon and Emery Culbertson.