Shirley May Ness
Shirley May Ness, 86, of Gonvick, Minnesota, passed away peacefully at her home, surrounded by the love of her family, on Wednesday, May 13, 2026.
Funeral services will be held on Friday, May 22, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. at Samhold Lutheran Church, with Reverend Will Anderson officiating. A visitation for family and friends will take place on Thursday, May 21, 2026, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. with a prayer service at 7:00 pm at Cease Family Funeral Home Chapel. Shirley will be laid to rest beside her beloved husband at Samhold Lutheran Cemetery.
Shirley was born on June 28, 1939, to Edwin and Gladys (Olson) Hammer. She was raised in Equality Township, north of Oklee, Minnesota, where she learned the values of hard work, faith, and devotion to family that would guide her throughout her life. Shirley was baptized and confirmed at Clearwater Lutheran Church, rural Oklee and graduated from Oklee High School in 1957.
On March 21, 1959, Shirley married the love of her life, Bloyd Lowell Ness, in a ceremony held at her parents’ farm near Oklee. Together, they built a life grounded in love, laughter, and unwavering commitment. As Bloyd worked on missile sites in Wyoming, Montana, and North Dakota, Shirley faithfully followed him wherever life led. They eventually returned to northwest Minnesota, living in Gully, Oklee, and Gonvick before settling in 1978 on their farm in Winsor Township, north of Gonvick, where Shirley remained for the rest of her life. Bloyd preceded her in death on September 28, 2019.
Shirley dedicated herself to both her family and her work. Over the years, she worked at the Melby Store in Oklee, operated the KC Club in Gonvick, served as a CNA and housekeeper at the Good Samaritan Center in Clearbrook, worked at the hospital and nursing home in Fosston, and spent many years at Winsor Products helping make Mrs. Olson's Lefse until her retirement.
A woman of strong faith, Shirley was a member of the Clearwater Lutheran Church as a child, and an active member of Samhold Lutheran Church. She also enjoyed the fellowship of the Gonvick Red Hat Ladies.
Shirley was an amazing Mom and found joy in life’s simple and meaningful moments. She loved crocheting, feeding and watching hummingbirds, and hosting family gatherings filled with abundant food and fresh coffee that was always hot. She was famous for her egg salad and never missed an episode of Wheel of Fortune. She delighted in babysitting her grandchildren, attending their school activities when she could and watched them on TV when she wasn’t able to go, and keeping up with all of their accomplishments.
Shirley had a wonderful sense of humor and was known as the family “prankster”—no one was safe from her playful antics. Her home was a place of warmth, comfort, and unconditional love. She was an extraordinary wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother whose greatest joy was caring for those she loved.
To the world, Shirley was a wife, mother, and grandmother, but to her family, she was their world.
Shirley is lovingly remembered by her daughter Brenda and her family; Crystal (Steve), Blake and Bryce, Tyler, Colten, and Rhylie; her son Boyd and his daughter Kameryn; her son Travis and his wife Sheila and their family; Nathan, Caleb (Jazmin), Aaron, and Logan; and her daughter Nadine and her husband Jason and their family; Olivia (Ryan), Weston (Kylie), and Kolter and Tegan. Her sister; Erma (Dwayne) Murray; her sister-in-law; Anne Hammer; her brother-in-law; Bradley (Sandy) Ness and nu