Obituary of Shirley Minke

We are thankful to our heavenly Father, who has taken into his loving arms his daughter, Shirley Rose (née Meyer) MINKE, on October 3, 2013, at Sunnyside Home in Kitchener. Out of his great love for her, he has freed her from the horrific grasp of Alzheimer Disease and set her free among all the saints in light. Her family members have tearfully said their good-byes to her and have let her go. Over the 10 years of her illness, we have prepared ourselves for this time of parting. Her husband, Pastor Wilmer Minke; her daughters, Wendy and her husband Dennis Culbert and Sande and her husband Rick Martin; her son Jack and his wife Ruth; and her grandchildren, Meaghan and Tyler Culbert, Kieran Joyes and Vanessa Martin, and Jeff, Jenn, and Connor Minke, will all sadly miss the love she shared with them over the years. Shirley was a beloved and devoted daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend to many and a cheerful volunteer and helper to her family, her church, and her community. She was a foster mother to more than a dozen newborn infants awaiting adoption, and she fostered children in Peru, Haiti, Korea, and other developing countries through her diligent volunteerism with Canadian Lutheran World Relief. She made dozens of quilts and comforters and hundreds of pneumonia vests for CLWR, Sleeping Children around the World, and Global Hunger and Development, and she contributed many quilts and blankets to Anselma House, St. Mary's Place, and St. Monica House in Kitchener-Waterloo. Her volunteerism with the Food Bank of Waterloo Region over ten years was recognized in 2003 with a citation presented by the mayors of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo. She was a Life Member of Evangelical Lutheran Women and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, a member of local, conference-level, and synodical ELWs, and an active member of many other church-related organizations and auxiliaries. Her ready sense of humour and winning smile lightened the lives of those with whom she came in contact. Her love for people was truly generous and wide-ranging. She was pre-deceased by her parents, William and Rose Meyer of Welland, her brother, Jack, her niece, Laurie Meyer, and one grandson, Christopher Minke, in infancy. She is survived by her brother Bill and his wife Lorraine, two sisters-in-law, and many nieces and nephews, as well as a wide circle of friends whose lives she touched in many different and loving ways. Friends are invited to share their memories of Shirley with her family during memorial visitation at the Erb & Good Family Funeral Home, 171 King St. S., Waterloo, on Thursday from 6-8 pm. A memorial service to celebrate Shirley's life and faith will be held at St Stephen Lutheran Church, 248 Highland Rd East, Kitchener, on Friday, October 11, 2013 at 11 AM, with interment of her ashes at Woodlawn Cemetery, Welland, at a later date. Memorial donations (in lieu of flowers) may be made to the Alzheimer Society, Canadian Lutheran World Relief, Global Hunger and Development, or a charity of your choice.