Sept. 25, 1919 - Feb. 11, 2014
Shirley Jean Christner died February 11, 2014 at the age of 94. She was born on September 25, 1919 in Brush, Colorado. Victor Verni Stoops, her father, was born in Nebraska. Laura May (Amrine) Stoops, her mother, was born in Iowa. The family lived on a farm near Gary, Colorado. She graduated from Brush High School and Colorado State University with a degree in Vocational Home Economics. At CSU, she met Jack W. Christner. They were married on July 14, 1941 in St. Francis, Kansas and spent the rest of that summer break at a US Forest Service fire lookout on Mt. Evans west of Denver where Jack was working. After Jack returned from World War II, they lived in Ft. Collins, Colorado. In 1960, they moved to Carson City with their two sons, Jere and Kurt. She taught part-time as a substitute and homebound teacher. She was a member of the Mark Twain Garden Club and Chapter N of P.E.O. Shirley was a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Carson City, serving as an elder and a deacon, and she was the registrar of the Elvira Bishop Christian Pre-School for 15 years. She was a talented, hardworking, and loving wife, mother, and grandmother. Her interests included gardening, crafts, and sewing. In recent years, her eyesight, hearing, memory, and body were failing. She often wondered why the Lord had left her here, long desiring to join Jack in Heaven. According to God’s plan and provision for all who trust in Jesus’ payment for their sins, she is finally there.
Shirley had three brothers who each preceded her in death. Her husband Jack died on September 14, 2003. She is survived by her two sons, Jere and wife Karen of Sitka, Alaska, and Kurt of Carson City, grandsons Jayson and wife Yvonne, Matthew and wife Naomi all of Sitka, and granddaughter Faith and husband Aaron Dionne of Portland, Oregon. She has six great-grandchildren in Sitka and two in Portland. Her sons wish to thank the staff of Ormsby Heights Residential Care for the loving care of their mother during her final years. Cremation will be at Fitzhenry’s Funeral Home, and inurnment will be at the Northern Nevada Memorial Cemetery in Fernley.
In respect of her wishes, no services are planned.