65460_Shirley G._Kuhlers
BELMOND — Shirley G. Kuhlers, age 91, of Belmond passed away Wednesday, June 5, 2013, at the Rehabilitation Center of Belmond.
Funeral services for Shirley G. Kuhlers will be held at 1:30 p.m. Monday June 10, at the Immanuel Reformed Church east of Belmond. Pastor David DeKuiper and Pastor Phil Arnold will officiate. Burial will be in the Immanuel Reformed Church Cemetery.
Visitation for Shirley G. Kuhlers will be held from 2 until 4 p.m. today, Sunday, June 9, at the Dugger Funeral Home, 111 Luick’s Lane S. in Belmond, and continue one hour prior to services at the church on Monday.
Shirley, the daughter of John and Carolina “Lena” (Gartz) Halfpap, was born March 13, 1922, near Belmond. She grew up on the family farm and graduated from Belmond High School.
Shirley was united in marriage to Carl John Kuhlers on June 13, 1941, in Princeton, Mo. To this union three children were born: Terry, Wil and Penny. They farmed at several locations around Thornton, Meservey and for more than 50 years at the farm east of Belmond where she was born.
They moved to the Belmond Community Apartments for several years before her move to the Belmond Rehabilitation Center. Carl and Shirley were married nearly 72 years.
Shirley taught country school near Clarion before becoming a wife, mother and homemaker. Shirley had a passion for making rhinestone and beaded jewelry, and owned a gift shop, “The Little Showplace,” where she sold her creations and boxed cards. Shirley loved to remember family and friends with cards on their birthdays, and would often send multiple cards each day.
Shirley had many interests including baking, sewing, gardening, canning and crocheting. She crocheted 13 three-foot-by-five-foot wall hangings of the Lord’s Prayer, besides tablecloths, doilies and afghans.
One of Shirley’s greatest joys was playing music on the piano and organ. She accompanied the choir when she was in high school, and then played for other groups and church choirs throughout her life.
Several church congregations were blessed with her faithful playing, including 50 years at Immanuel Reformed Church of rural Belmond, only missing one Sunday in all those years due to a hand injury. Shirley also accompanied services for numerous years at Goodell Methodist and Bethany Reformed churches in Belmond.
She could play just about any music and could play many hymns and songs from memory, even in recent months. One of her favorite songs was: “You Are My Sunshine.”
A handwritten note found among her things said, “I love my music with all my heart and soul. I play it when I’m happy or when I’m feeling low.”
Shirley will be missed by her family and friends, and is survived by her husband, Carl, of Belmond, son Terry and his wife, Eileen, of Eagle River, Wis., son Wil of Belmond, and daughter Penny Fitzgerald and husband, Jeff, of Newhall, Iowa, six grandsons: Todd, Matt, Jeff (Erin) Kuhlers of Lubbock, Texas, Keith (Mindy) Kuhlers of Hudson, S.D., Joel Fitzgerald of Elmwood Park, Ill., and Paul Fitzgerald of Cedar Rapids.
Other survivors include great-grandchildren Kaylee and Mia of Texas and Leighton of South Dakota; one sister, Ruth Pals of Belmond; one brother, Kenneth (Muriel) Halfpap of Belmond; sister-in-law Alvina Kuhlers of Belmond, and numerous nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents and sisters, Marvyl Halfpap, Phyllis Boelman and Jessie Thayer.
Dugger Funeral Home, 111 Luick’s Lane S., Box 233, Belmond, IA 50421, 641-444-3248, www.duggerfunerals.com.
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