Shirley Jean (Stanek) Alexander

Shirley Jean (Stanek) Alexander

Minnetonka, MN

Shirley Jean (Stanek) Alexander, June 21, 1934 – August 24, 2024, age 90, of Minnetonka, Minnesota, died peacefully in hospice on August 24. She was born to Melvin and Ruth (Thurow) Stanek in Fort Dodge, Iowa, and grew up with three siblings on the family farm in Calendar, outside Fort Dodge. As a girl, Shirley was active in 4-H and among other honors served as Webster County 4-H President and showed her prize-winning cow at the county and state fairs.

After graduation from Moorland High School, Shirley attended Iowa State University, where she majored in home economics and joined the Chi Omega sorority. At Iowa State, she met her future husband, Bruce Alexander – an architecture major from Waterloo, Iowa, who also played varsity football and completed the Naval ROTC program. They married after graduation and lived for 3 years in Norfolk, Virginia, while Bruce fulfilled his Navy service commitment.

Shirley gave birth to two sons, Mark and Scot, and together with Bruce raised them in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Shirley was a warm and loving mother, providing her children with a strong, nurturing foundation from which to lead constructive and fulfilling lives. Annual trips to the family farm brought valuable perspective, many life lessons, and lasting memories. In Cedar Rapids, Shirley taught home economics, including many years full-time at Kennedy High School. When the home economics curriculum was discontinued, Shirley pivoted to teach history for the Social Studies department. She was an active supporter of athletics at Kennedy and maintained valued friendships with many of her former students and co-workers after her retirement. Proud of her Czech and Swiss-German heritage, Shirley enthusiastically volunteered for many years at the National Czech and Slovak Museum, where she especially enjoyed guiding tours of the immigrant house. Together with Bruce, Shirley enjoyed gardening, fishing, and activities at the Peoples Church Unitarian Universalist in Cedar Rapids, where she was a long-time member and supporter. Shirley was also widely appreciated for utilizing her sewing skills in the service of family and others.

Shirley was a life-long learner and traveled widely during retirement, seeking novel experiences domestically and overseas. Together with Bruce, she was fortunate to join a warm and supportive independent living community at Meth-Wick in Cedar Rapids. Shirley relocated this year to Presbyterian Homes Beacon Hill assisted living facility in the Minneapolis area to be closer to family. Although she belonged to an extended family that included a prominent economist and presidential advisor, Shirley was an unpretentious and generous person, ever-appreciative of her frugal rural upbringing. She was open-minded yet principled, with integrity and strong convictions, politically and spiritually progressive, and an avid reader of history books in particular. She leaves an inspiring legacy for her family, friends, and former students.

Shirley was preceded in death by her husband, parents, and two younger brothers. She is survived by her younger sister Sharon (Des Moines) and family and by Shirley’s two sons and their families: Mark and wife Vera (Boston) and their two children – daughter Isabel (Austin) and son David (Boston); and Scot and wife Amy (Minneapolis) and their four children – son Jack, wife Laura, and grandson Andrew (San Francisco), daughter Rachel (San Francisco), son Ben (Denver), and daughter Sarah and husband Zach (Des Moines). In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Peoples Church Unitarian Universalist, Presbyterian Homes Beacon Hill (Minnetonka), or the National Czech and Slovak Museum. Inurnment and a celebration of Shirley’s life will be held at Cedar Memorial at a later time. Memories or condolences can be shared at www.cedarmemorial.com.