Shirley V. Hexamer

Shirley Stephens Hexamer, 87, of Sioux City passed away Saturday, Aug. 16, 2014, at her residence.
Services will be 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Morningside Chapel, Christy-Smith Funeral Home. Burial will be in Memorial Park Cemetery. Visitation will be 5 to 7 p.m. Friday at the funeral home.
Shirley was born on Nov. 21, 1926, in Sioux Falls, S.D., to Harry A. and Inez Wickre Stephens. She attended Lowell Grade School and graduated from Washington High School in Sioux Falls.
She married Bruce E. Hexamer on May 26, 1947, in Sioux Falls, where they lived until moving to Sioux City in 1966. They had four children, Shyla J. Hexamer (Bauer), B. Ronald Hexamer (deceased), Terry L. Hexamer, and Cathy S. Hexamer (Johnson). Shirley worked at Northwestern Bell Telephone Company in Sioux City and Sioux Falls until her retirement in 1986. She soon became restless and went to work for St Luke’s Regional Medical Center on the switchboard until she was 80. Everywhere Shirley worked she made lifelong friends.
Shirley was a member of St Thomas Episcopal Church of Sioux City, where she co-founded the church’s children’s library, and served on the church’s St. Cecelia’s Circle and the Thrift Shop. Shirley also volunteered and helped with St. Luke’s Children Miracle Telethon phone bank. She was a passionate and avid gardener and reader. She was member of a Red Hat Club, Bridge Club, and Book Club. She was extremely proud of her driving record in which she never had a speeding ticket or moving accident. Shirley was always meticulously dressed and coiffed and relished her bi-weekly trips to the beauty salon. In her last year of life, she developed a love of cats and rescued two feral cats that she named Ferdinand and Delores.
Her proudest accomplishment was that of a mother of four, grandmother of eight, and great-grandmother of eight. Shirley always gave 100 percent to everything she did, especially with her family.
Left to mourn her loss are her children, Shyla and Fred Bauer of Novato, Calif., Terry and Terri Hexamer of Alton, Iowa, and Cathy Hexamer-Johnson of Ida Grove, Iowa. Shirley’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren will forever miss her too, Brenda Hexamer of Orange City, Iowa, Danny and Debby Bauer of Novato, Jenny and Sam Davis of Omaha, and their daughter, Lillian Davis, Becky Hexamer and Ron Roberts of Granville, Iowa, Steve and Samantha Hexamer and their children, Cale, Caitlin, Carter, and Christian Hexamer of Des Moines, and Shawn, Ethan, and Joey Hexamer of Alton, and Alissa and Alex Johnson of Sioux City. Some of her grandkids' most cherished memories are the fun times she made for them, such as cooking them green eggs and ham or starting snowball fights or making snowmen or going to clown school with her.
Shirley was preceded in death by her husband, Bruce, of 37 years; her siblings, Harry Jr. Stephens and Carol Stephens Connor; her parents; Hexamer in-laws; and many much-loved aunts, cousins and friends. Her greatest heartbreak was the loss of her son, Ron Hexamer, three years ago.