Funeral Mass for Shirley L. Deatsch will be held 10:30 a.m. Friday, December 28, 2018, at St Ignatius Catholic Church in Spring Valley, with Fr. Marreddy Pothireddy officiating. Burial will take place in the church cemetery. Visitation will be held 5-7 p.m. on Thursday December 27, 2018, at the Hindt Funeral Home in Spring Valley and will continue for one hour prior to the service at the church. There will be a rosary recited at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday at the funeral home.
Shirley L. Deatsch, age 72, of Spring Valley, died on Thursday, December 20, 2018, at St. Marys hospital in Rochester, Minn., of the rare disease calciphylaxis. She passed away peacefully surrounded by family.
Shirley was born October 23, 1946, in Creston, Iowa, to Mabel and Wendell Mathes. She attended grade school in Arispe, Iowa. She then moved to Murray, Iowa, in 1955, where she graduated from Murray High School in 1965. She attended Creston Community College for two years and transferred to Northwest Missouri State where she graduated in 1969 with an English degree. She taught middle school English for one year in King City, Mo.
She married John Deatsch on May 24, 1969, in Osceola, Iowa, and moved to Alaska, where John worked for the summer. After marrying they lived in Anchorage, Alaska, King City, Mo., Fairfield, Iowa, Owatonna, and Dodge Center, before settling in Spring Valley, Minn., in 1979.
She raised three daughters and was an active part of the community and church. She was on the library board, American Legion Auxiliary, delivered Meals on Wheels, was a member of the Ministerial Association, and assisted with her husband’s Bloomfield Mutual Insurance Agency. She was also involved in many other activities in the community.
She was a member of St. Ignatius Catholic Church in Spring Valley, where she was on the parish council, taught religious education and RCIA, delivered communion to the nursing home and home bound, planned funeral dinners, was a lector, and eucharistic minister.
Her interests included reading mysteries, doing word finds, cooking, and family trips to the North Shore. She enjoyed spending time with her children and grandchildren and attending their various activities.
Shirley is survived by her husband John of 49 years, her three daughters: Sandy Deatsch of Boston, Mass., Lori (Steve) Groslie of Rochester, Minn., and Christy Deatsch of Rochester, Minn.; three grandchildren: Brandon, Paige, and Claire; and brother Roland Mathes of Murray, Iowa.
She was proceeded in death by her parents Wendell and Mabel Mathes and her sister, Marie Wetzel.
Condolences may be left at www.Hindtfuneralhomes.com.