Shirley Mae Wohl

Shirley Mae Wohl, 91, Bismarck, entered the kingdom of glory on Friday, June 19, 2020.

A private family service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday, June 26. Friends and extended family may view safely via the livestream at: www.sotv-bis.org or https://www.facebook.com/sotvbis/.

Shirley was born on July 5, 1928 in Flaxton to Enoch and Christine Christensen. She attended school in Flaxton and following high school received her teaching certificate from Minot State Teacher’s College. It was during that time she met the love of her life, Art Wohl. They were married June 20, 1948 and lived in Anamoose until 1952 when they moved to Underwood. There they raised three children, David, Lawrence and Karolyn.

Shirley began teaching at Underwood School in 1967. Her favorite age was third graders. She was known for being a tough but fair teacher with a soft heart. Sometimes the younger kids would forget and call her grandma and she kind of liked that. Over the years she had occasion to visit with many former students who gave her hugs and told her how much they enjoyed having her as a teacher. Shirley was also an avid golfer, so she enjoyed the opportunity to coach the high school golf team for several years, including leading the team to the state tournament.

She went back to school at Minot State to get her bachelor’s degree, over several years and while still working full time. She drove to Minot many nights to attend night classes and attended summer school for several years. In 1977, Shirley celebrated with her son Larry as both received their bachelor’s degrees on the same weekend, in Minot and Jamestown.

Shirley retired from teaching in 1986 and enjoyed gardening, cross stitch, golf, grandchildren, and travel with Art. They spent several winters each in Florida and Arizona and took several trips around the country by bus and car. In 2000 they moved to Bismarck. They were active members of Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church and enjoyed spending time with friends and family. Shirley continued an activity she had begun in Underwood, making church banners, including over a hundred baptismal and confirmation banners as well as special banners for the annual LWML Sundays.

After a short stay at Edgewood Vista in Mandan in the summer of 2019, Shirley broke her shoulder in a fall and became a resident at St Vincent’s Care Center until the time of her death.

She is survived by her children, David, Larry (Jan) and Kari (Mike) Kramer; grandchildren, Christian (Caryn), Matthew, Ryan, Nicholas (Victoria) and Robert (Anna); great-grandchildren, Cory and Ella; sister, Della Wilhelm;  sister-in-law, Florence Stenehjem; and many nieces and nephews and their families.

She was preceded in death by her parents, brother Carlyle, sisters Georgia, Myrtle, Ruth and husband Art.

Memorials are preferred to Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church or the North Dakota Veteran’s Cemetery.