Shirley Fenske

Shirley Rae Fenske, age 86, of Macomb, IL and formerly of Batavia and Yorkville, IL, passed away on Saturday, October 9, 2021, at Bickford Assisted Living Center in Macomb. Shirley was born on September 28, 1935, to the late Gladys and Peter Morrison in Aurora, IL, where she was raised.  Shirley was a graduate of East Aurora High School and Aurora University. Shirley married Ronald J. “Ron” Fenske.  Ron passed unexpectedly in 1994.  Shirley later married Frank Rach, who predeceased her.  Shirley was also predeceased by all of her siblings, Bob Morrison, Lois Wyeth (with whom she was particularly close), Bruce Morrison, and Jack Morrison. Shirley and Ron had two children, Ronald J. “Rick” (Karen) Fenske of Sugar Grove, IL and Carrie (Brian) Holland of Bushnell, IL; grandchildren Jamey (Kacie) Fenske of Spring, TX, Sean (Erica) Fenske of Rock Springs, WY, Jennifer (Jaron) Parham of Mission, KS, Sarah (Joe) Lyons of Kansas City, KS, and Joe Holland of Bloomington, IL; great-grandchildren Gavin Fenske and Maddox Fenske.  She is also survived by many nieces and nephews, and several step children. Shirley was an elementary and later a reading teacher at Batavia schools for over 35 years.  Shirley enjoyed working with young children and especially valued the importance of learning to read.  She touched a lot of lives through her years in the Batavia school system. Shirley was a talented and prolific artist, especially with her water color paintings which are widely admired by family and friends.  She also was an excellent seamstress, and she enjoyed creating Halloween costumes for her grandchildren when they were younger.  Shirley also enjoyed music, and even gave her baby grand piano to her granddaughter Sarah, and gave her grandson Joe his first guitar!  Family gatherings for many, many years were at Grandma Shirley’s house.  There are lots of memories of large gatherings where the kids would be enjoying Shirley’s pool, while Uncle Bruce was the master of the grill.   For many years Shirley would cook holiday meals for her extended family.  Shirley was always a hard worker.  Although the last several years of her life were not easy, as Shirley dealt with Lewy Body Dementia, Shirley could still be found helping to fold laundry and napkins, or running the halls (even when she wasn’t supposed to!) The family would like to give special thanks to Liz, who provided exceptional care for Shirley while she was still in her home in Yorkville and helped allow Shirley to stay at home for several years.  Special thanks also is given to the staff at Bickford of Macomb Assisted Living Center for the excellent personal care they gave to Shirley. Shirley herself did not much care for funerals.  In fact, in her earlier days, Shirley would say that she didn’t want any fuss over her funeral.  Her line was “Just throw in a scoop of Oberweis” and she would be good! For those who would like to attend the burial of the urn , that will take place Sat Oct 23, 2021 at 9am at West Batavia Cemetery in Batavia. Following the burial, the family will be receiving guests on Saturday, October 23, 2021 from 10am until time of service at 12pm at, at Dieterle Funeral Home 1120 S. Broadway, in Montgomery. Donations to the Lewy Body Dementia Association 912 Killian Hill Rd SW, Lilburn Ga 30047 or The Bristol County Fire Dept. Station 1, 103 Beaver Street in Yorkville, 60560. For guestbook and directions go to www.dieterlememorialhome.com  630-761-5867.