Shirley Lemke

Shirley Lemke, 99, of Woodruff, died in the early morning hours on Thanksgiving, November 23, 2023, at Milestone Senior Living in Woodruff.

Shirley was born at home in Long Lake, Ill., on October 4, 1924, to Edward and Charlotte Krepel (Schumacher). She graduated from Grant High School, Fox Lake, Ill., in 1941, and married Kenneth L. Lemke on November 15, 1941, in Morgantown, Ky.

Shirley held several jobs in the years before becoming a (mostly) full-time mother and homemaker — working in Chicago at Western Electric; as a secretary to John Rockefeller Prentice; Wisconsin Scientific Corporation; ABS Corporation; and with her husband, Ken, building the business of Lakeview Screw Machine Products, first in Bartlett, Ill., and then Elgin, Ill. She and Ken raised their four children in Itasca and Sleepy Hollow, Ill.

Shirley’s passions were reading and studying the Bible, praying for her family, and hobbies of ceramics and quilting in Sayner. Shirley and Ken were longtime summer residents of Sayner, which became full-time in the early 1980s. She was an active member of the Plum Lake Women’s Club and Friends of the Plum Lake Library in Sayner. During her service as president of Friends of the Library, she was very instrumental in raising funds to build the new library in town. 

Shirley was preceded in death by her husband Ken Lemke on October 21, 2000, and sisters Joanne, Joyce, and Eileen. She is survived by her children Ronald Lemke (Patty) of Markesan, Wendy Lemke Heinen of Cedar Falls, Iowa, Jill Lemke of Arbor Vitae and Matthew Lemke of Greendale; grandchildren Debra, Todd, Gretchen, Erik, and Adam; and great-grandchildren Parker, Grace, Lawson, Cade, Benjamin, Hannah, Margaret, Avery, Kylie; and niece Victoria.

A private family burial was held at Plum Lake Cemetery in Sayner, where Shirley now rests beside Ken.

The family would like to thank the staff of Milestone Senior Living, Woodruff, for their gentle, compassionate care of their mother over the past four years. They truly treated her like one of their own family members.

Memorials can be made in Shirley Lemke’s name to Seasons of Life Hospice Patient Care at https://www.howardyoungfoundation.org/give/.

Online condolences may be shared at www.nimsgernfuneral.com. Nimsgern Funeral & Cremation Services is serving the family.