Shirley Gearhart

Shirley Gearhart, 79, of Winnebago Illinois died peacefully at home on December 29, 2023 after a short hospitalization.

Shirley was born on June 4, 1944 to Leslie and Helen Gienapp of rural Manchester Iowa. Shirley and her younger brother Ron shared a childhood at their family dairy farm filled with classic post-war memories and experiences of small town America.

While attending West Delaware High School in Manchester, Iowa, Shirley met her future husband: Dennis Gearhart. Dennis met her in their 8am History Class their sophomore year when Dennis came to Manchester from Dundee, Iowa.

Each time Dennis went to ask Shirley to a school dance or on a date, Shirley already had one. Finally, when they were seniors, Dennis asked early enough, and he and Shirley went on their first date. They were the only two classmates to marry from within their graduating class of 1962.

After graduation from West Delaware High School, Shirley moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa and worked as a secretary for Arthur Collins of Rockwell Collins (now Collins Aerospace). She shared a house with two former school classmates and walked to work.

On November 29, 1963, Dennis proposed to Shirley. To purchase her wedding ring, he sold 3 of his 4-H pigs. After they were married on June 14, 1964 in Delaware, Iowa, Shirley moved to Ames, Iowa to join Dennis while he completed his degree at Iowa State University. Shirley worked for a veterinarian and began furnishing their apartment in what would become her signature creative style.

On October 22, 1965, Shirley gave birth to their first child, Michelle, while Dennis sat for one of his final exams.

After Dennis’s graduation, he took a job with Deere & Company out of Moline, Illinois as a territory manager. Together, Shirley and Dennis moved to Bettendorf, Iowa. Dennis’s job with Deere required relocating, which included Newton Iowa, Escanaba Michigan, and Traverse City, Michigan. Shirley oversaw the moving and created a homey environment for her traveling husband and small daughter. Together, Shirley and Dennis painted, wallpapered, refinished furniture, and landscaped their Michigan residences. Shirley loved to entertain and host house guests, and cousins and grandparents from Iowa were frequent visitors.

On April 19, 1970, they welcomed their second child, Michael, into the family. While Dennis was busy checking inventory at John Deere dealerships, Shirley was busy raising two children and learning to run an efficient household.

On July 4, 1971, Shirley and Dennis moved to Winnebago Illinois when Dennis accepted an offer to manage the area’s John Deere dealership, Meridian Implement Company.

While Dennis kept busy selling John Deere 4020 Tractors, Shirley kept busy on raising the family and creating the welcoming home they shared for over 50 years. Shirley’s creativity and love of crafting and decorating really found a place to shine in their home.

Once the family was established in their new home, Shirley brought up the idea of hosting a neighborhood garage sale, including the entire street. This was a new concept that was not being done yet, and the Goodling Street garage sales were a lively weekend that everyone enjoyed. Now, these neighborhood and town-wide garage sales are everywhere.

Ding Dong. Once son Michael started kindergarten, Shirley became an Avon representative, which gave her a chance to socialize, shop, and meet people in the community.

Shirley was creative and when younger, she had thought of being either an English teacher, or a Home Economics teacher. She married these early aspirations with her creative talents, and since she loved crafts, by the mid-1970s, she opened Fireside Crafts, her home-based business of making and selling craft and home decor items. She sold at area gift stores like the Henrici’s Clock Tower Resort (Rockford), Exclusively Yours (Rockford), Nyrie’s (South Beloit) and the Wagon Wheel Resort (Rockton), as well as craft shows in Northern Illinois. Dennis encouraged Shirley in this pursuit, and helped to provide the “muscle” of setting up her booths at various craft shows.

In addition to the decor crafts, Shirley’s crafting projects included a steady stream of refrigerator magnets including the classic “Got more time for Misbehavin’, since I started Microwavin” and “Pobody’s Nerfect”.

Her kitchen filled and emptied with a stream of hand-blown chicken and ostrich eggs, which she then cut with a dremel tool and either beaded (for photo frames) or shellacked (for frying pan wall decor). She stained case-after-case of wooden horse stirrups for napkin holders, used silica to preserve flowers from her garden for her arrangements, and used tweezers to select alphabet pasta to spell out “Notes” for her mousetrap note holder magnets. Hundreds and hundreds of “Not for mice, not for cheese . . . leave a note, if you please” mousetrap magnets were churned out from Fireside Crafts. Shirley’s family knew how important it was for a woman in the 1970s to have the ability to make money that was her “own”, and Fireside Crafts delivered that promise for Shirley.

She hosted open houses for Fireside Crafts, and opened her home for an annual holiday event. Spiced oranges in her apple cider created a smell that welcomed friends, neighbors, and the community to her annual open house with its assortment of crafted items. She was a great hostess, for both her business, and for visiting relatives.

She enjoyed making hand-dipped chocolate candies at Christmastime for gifts, and had the white boxes, gold elastic cords, and “From Shirley’s Kitchen” stickers to make her candy gifts personalized, special, and delicious.

Raising kids, keeping a home, and running a business kept Shirley busy throughout the 1970s and 1980s. In the 1980s and 1990s, Shirley also assisted at Meridian True Value Hardware, a store that she and Dennis purchased in the late 1980s.

On February 4, 1999, Shirley became a Grandma with the arrival of Madisyn, daughter of Michael and Megan Gearhart. Shortly after that, Shirley tapped back into her creative tendencies when she began babysitting for Madisyn. She created a stimulating and playful environment. She loved reading books to her granddaughter, and later taught Madisyn to play cards. Shirley engaged Madisyn’s power of imagination when together they set up a series of “stores” in the basement including a bank, a restaurant, and a library.

On February 25, 2003, Shirley became a Grandma for a second time, when Micah Gearhart was born. Shirley’s basement continued to be the best playground, but now for little-boy pursuits: reading books, shooting hoops, and even pretend football games - calling Grandma Shirley into active duty blocking make-believe linemen so that Micah could score touchdowns. With both grandkids, Shirley’s crafting station remained a fun place to create imaginary figures, hair bows, and decorations - putting ribbon, glue guns, plastic adornments, and wood into a full menagerie of whimsical creations.

Shirley was a supportive spouse of Dennis’s business adventures, and his entrepreneurial spirit was tempered by her lower-risk tolerance - they balanced each other well. His life had a supportive, stable, and beautiful foundation in the home life, and her life had a more social, exciting element from Dennis’s business ventures.

For decades, Shirley and Dennis loved to travel with their kids, taking summer vacations to explore different regions of the US. They were fortunate to also travel abroad together - with Bermuda (in the 1960s), Germany, China, Australia, and Portugal being favorite experiences.

But at the end of the day, Shirley and Dennis loved the simple beauty of a road trip most of all. Whether driving the countryside to pick bittersweet vines or moss for Shirley’s projects at Fireside Crafts, or driving with daughter Michelle and son-in-law Dan Minick to Wisconsin towns for garage sales and pie, or driving with son Michael and daughter-in-law Megan to watch dance or sporting events for their grandkids, Shirley loved a road trip. Music such as Elvis, Ricky Nelson, Alan Jackson, or other country music set the stage for a great day in the car.

Even in the later years, watching Shirley and Dennis in the car could often be like watching the years roll away, witnessing two youngsters having a quiet conversation or laughing on their way off on a new adventure.

Shirley is off to a new life with the Lord, and was predeceased by her parents, Leslie & Helen Gienapp and in-laws, Duane & Lorraine Gearhart. She is survived by her husband Dennis, aunt Vera Gienapp (age 102) of Manchester Iowa, brother Ron Gienapp (Diane) of Manchester Iowa, daughter Michelle Gearhart-Minick (Dan) of Rockford Illinois, son Michael Gearhart (Megan) of Rockford Illinois, granddaughter Madisyn Gearhart of Davenport Iowa, and grandson Micah Gearhart of Rockford Illinois.

Shirley’s sense of humor was well-developed and dry. Along with her Faith, which gave her an unwavering strength, her humor also served her well in dealing with her health challenges.

Shirley’s family would like to thank the staff at UW Health’s Heart Hospital in Rockford. The nurses in Pod C provided exceptional care for Shirley in her final week and witnessed both Shirley’s faith and her humor daily.

A PRIVATE MEMORIAL SERVICE for family will be held at Fitzgerald Funeral Home on 1860 South Mulford Road in Rockford Illinois on Saturday, January 13, 2024 at 10:30 am.

A PUBLIC CELEBRATION OF LIFE: If you knew Shirley, you know she didn’t love public events, but the family invites you to Celebrate her life anyway!

Join us anytime between 1 - 4pm on Saturday, January 13, 2024 for a casual opportunity to gather and celebrate Shirley’s life. Lunch will be served.

This public CELEBRATION OF LIFE will be held at New Life Bible Church at 2285 North Hoisington Road on US Route 20 between Pecatonica and Winnebago.