Shirley Darlene Jackson passed away on Monday, July 21, 2025 in Mora, MN, after a long and fruitful life and more than 40 years in Christian ministry, serving alongside her beloved husband Harvey. She was 89 years old.

Shirley was born February 13, 1936, to George and Ethel (Thorson) Bonnallie, the fourth of four daughters. They lived on a small farmstead on the south side of the Minnesota-Iowa border, just a mile from Lyle, where Shirley and her sisters went to high school. Growing up on the farm was a highlight for Shirley. She learned to cook, bake, help with farmwork, handle dairy cows and chickens, and follow the Lord. Shirley surrendered her life to her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ when she was a teenager. She attended church in Mona, Iowa, and graduated from Lyle High School in 1954.

Shirley left home at age 18 to grow in her relationship with Christ at Lutheran Bible Institute (LBI) in Minneapolis. Those two years helped her train for a lifetime of rural ministry. She met her beloved Harvey at LBI, falling in love while playing table tennis. Shirley dated the aspiring pastor-to-be for the next six years. She spent a year serving a church in Iowa as a ministry assistant. Then she followed Harvey to Luther College in Nebraska, earning a degree in accounting in 1959.

They were married on August 5, 1961, moving back to Minneapolis where Harvey finished studies at Northwestern Seminary. Her favorite job was working as an administrative assistant for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Their first call after ordination was to serve Bethesda Lutheran of Strandquist and Salem of rural Stephen, Minnesota. From 1968 to 1975, they served the Lord as pastor and wife at Salem Lutheran of Dalbo, and Siloa, near Braham.

The Jacksons raised three children in ministry: Linda, Brad and Beth. Her two daughters became pastor's wives, like their mother. One of those daughters promised their mother, in a moment of angst, "I will never marry a pastor." Shirley responded: "You better be careful about what you promise." To date that daughter has been serving with her husband in full-time ministry for 34 years – and counting. Brad made his career in the hospitality industry, delighting his mother with daily phone calls after his shift ended. She looked forward to those calls.

Strong personal relationships were a primary value for the Jacksons. Together, Harvey and Shirley forged a well-known reputation for good hospitality, a knack for home visitation, a passion for Bible teaching, a habit of personal evangelism, and a lasting love for rural ministry. As a team they cared for seven congregations in Minnesota, Michigan and North Dakota. They were also active volunteers and participants with the Lutheran Evangelistic Movement (LEM) and the World Mission Prayer League (WMPL), a missionary-sending agency, serving on the national board for both organizations. They retired in 2002 and moved to Park River, North Dakota. Harvey passed away in 2015.

Steady, positive, grateful and gracious, Shirley was known for her bright smile and friendliness. She loved Jesus Christ and actively shared the gospel in a natural and comfortable way. Relatives in Maryland and New York always drew close. Cousins from southern Minnesota were especially precious. Sisters Virginia, Dorothy and Ann were always close – all living well into their 80s and 90s, and gathering together as often as possible.

During 40 years of active ministry, and 20 years more of regular service as volunteers, Shirley made a multitude of loyal friends. Her Christmas card list was monumental – reaching back and keeping touch with friends in especially in Cambridge and Dalbo, Alden and Albert Lea, and dear friends from other parishes in Ishpeming, MI (Hope Free), and Hatton (Zoar), as well as close friends they made during retirement years in Edinburg and Park River, ND.

Throughout her long life, Shirley enjoyed baking, cooking, canning, filling her gigantic stock-tank-sized freezer with food, regularly inviting people into her home. She also loved to win -- playing for keeps in board games such as Scrabble, Up-words, and Yahtzee. She frequently nabbed first place, except when her sisters Ann and Dorothy were playing, but always relishing the victories, even into her last year.

After her husband's passing in 2015, she made new friends in senior living at Enderlin, North Dakota, where daughter Beth and husband Tom lived, and at Eastwood in Mora, MN, where daughter Linda and her husband Jim helped her meet other treasured friends in the memory care residence during the past year.

Shirley was preceded in death by her parents, three sisters, sister-in-law Rosemary Cavanaugh, and Harvey, her husband of 54 years.

She is survived by her three children, Linda (James) Johnson of Mora, MN; Bradley (Carla) Jackson of Edina, MN; and Beth (Tom Olson) of Enderlin, ND, fifteen grandchildren, including Elizabeth Swenson, Hannah Messerly, Lydia Papillon, Benjamin Johnson, Grace Johnson, Seth Johnson, Miah Johnson, Isaiah Johnson, Titus Johnson, Isak Olson, Kelvin Olson, Kiana Grotberg, Josiah Olson, Karina Olson and Jana Olson. She also leaves behind six nephews, two nieces, and nineteen great-grandchildren.

A Christian Funeral Service will be held at 11:00 am on Saturday, July 26, 2025 at the Hamilton Funeral Homes - Akkerman Chapel in Mora.
Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service.

A luncheon will follow for funeral attendees at True Vine Lutheran (130 S. Park Street - Mora)
Interment will be held at 1:00 pm on Monday, July 28, 2025 at the Park River Memorial Park Cemetery in Park River, ND.

Source: https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/shirley-jackson-obituary?id=58972370