Shirley Isabell (Smith) Flieth Age 88, Jamestown, ND, formerly of Bottineau, ND passed away on June 13,2024 at home surrounded by her family.
Shirley was born June 24, 1935 to Henry and Selma (Stundahl) Smith on a family farm built by her dad near Galesburg, ND. She lived there until moving in “1938” to a farm West of Page, ND. Shirley was baptized in Elm River Lutheran Church in Galsburg, ND on August 18,1935 & was confirmed in the Christian Faith at Halstad Lutheran Church at Halstad, MN on June 4,1950.
In “1942” their family moved on a farm west of Chaffee, ND. Where Shirley attended school at Chaffee & went to church in Embden, ND. In “1942” they moved to Halstad, MInnesota where her folks bought a grocery store and a locker plant on Main Street.
At a young age Shirley babysat & worked at the town cafe in Halstad, MN, where Shirley met the love of her life (Roy) at the cafe. Roy came back daily to eat there which led to Roy marrying the love of his life December 4,1954.
Roy & Shirley Flieth paid $3,000 for their first home with 6 acres, 3 miles SW of Halstad, Mn. They raised their 3 oldest in this home, until moving to Bottineau ND in “1960”. Roy & Shirley had 7 children. Shirley babysat for local children for quite some time & then in “1969” Shirley worked in housekeeping department at the “Good Samaritan Nursing Home”.
They moved to Jamestown, ND in September 18, 1981 to manage the Tumbleweed motel until 1984. Shirley has worked for years in the nursing home/hospital & worked her way up to supervisor of housekeeping. In April 10, 2010 Shirley retired after 30 some years. Shirley was involved in many community services. She was chairperson at JRMC Hospital for “Stitches” which provided for babies to have a warm cap & tummy pillows.
After retiring at the Jamestown Hospital, Shirley volunteered for years, registering people & showing them where to go for surgery. In “2012” Shirley was voted by her peers, and won the award of “Outstanding Rural Health Volunteer”! They had a social & banquet held in Grand Forks, ND honoring her.
She was a member of hospital auxiliary and volunteered her time for the annual “Relay for life”, she volunteered at the local citizen center and at her church, and for blood drives. Shirley understood the importance of giving back to her community.
One of Shirley’s special things she loved to do was genealogy which was passed down to her by her daughter, Becky Goetz. Shirley & Roy spent many endless hours on road trips to gather their information & then Shirley eventually passed this down to her daughter, Cindy who enjoyed helping collect much of this history. Shirley loved her family & would do anything for her loved ones! Shirley had a love for electronics & any gadgets she could find, (we weren’t sure what to do with most of them). When Shirley got the diagnosis of “Cancer” & was told she has 2 weeks to 2 months to live, her loved ones came by train, plane & automobile to see her from Illinois, Tennessee, Arizona, Montana, Iowa & all over North Dakota. So many kind words were spoken to Shirley while she was still alive. She couldn’t believe all these people came just to see her & she didn’t realize how many lives she has affected & impacted for the better. When mom heard of her diagnosis, she knew for her last wish she wanted to take a trip to Wisconsin to see her “101” year old last living sibling, Phyllis. So, Sally, Roy, Cindy & Mark got mom in the car and we drove to Wisconsin to see the sweetest reunion between two sisters. One that we will never forget! Through this tough time, Shirley kept her sense of humor, &her spunkyness. Shirley was kind hearted & brave & wanted to make sure & tell her loved ones how she felt.Shirley got to hear her loved ones tell her how they felt about her too. It really was a blessing to get to share this special time with our mom, every night we would hold hands & say prayers together, we thank God every day for the time the Good Lord gave us with our mom! We had the best mom ever!
Shirley’s family who are left to honor her memory are her children: Cindy (Mark) Filipek, Coleharbor, ND; Roy (Sheila) Flieth, Crystal Lake, Illinois; Sally Flieth, Jamestown, ND; Tammy (Brian) Knudson, Bottineau, ND; & Penny (Ed) Lloyd Fargo, ND. Besides the surviving children Shirley also was blessed with 14 grandchildren, and 27 great grandchildren. She is survived by only one sibling out of 13 children, Phyllis Farrell, Dalton, Wisconsin
Shirley was preceded in death by: Her parents Henry Stundahl (Selma) Smith, her husband, Roy Flieth Sr., a daughter Rachel Flieth, a daughter Rebecca (Flieth) Goetz.
A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 10:30 AM, Thursday, June 20, 2024 at Trinity Lutheran Church, Jamestown, ND with Pastor Susan Haukaas officiating.
In lieu of flowers, memorials preferred to JRMC Hospice.
Eddy Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.