Shirley Mae Klassen

March 11, 1927 - July 3, 2016

Retsil, WA - Shirley Mae Klassen, 89, of Retsil, Washington, passed away peacefully on Sunday, July 3, 2016, with close family by her side.

Shirley was born in Buffalo, Wyoming, to Miles and Sybil Turner. She was the eldest of three children. Her family moved to Grandview, Washington, when she was in grade school. After high school, she married Donald Klassen. They had three children and eventually settled in Salem, Oregon.

Shirley moved to Independence, Oregon, in 1960, with her children and parents and attended The Oregon College of Education (now Western Oregon University) where she received her master's in education, with a minor in special education.

She taught elementary school in Monmouth for several years. In 1965, they moved to Enumclaw, Washington, where she taught special education. She and her two sons then moved to Guam in 1970 and she taught elementary school there for five years. While living in Guam, she continued to travel extensively throughout Asia.

After a quick stint working in Alaska, Shirley came back to Monmouth, put all her belongings in storage, and with only the name and address of a company that was hiring, booked a flight to Iran. She arrived in 1976 and was promptly hired by Bell Helicopter.

Her time in Iran was, as she would often describe, very exciting. She witnessed (and directly experienced) the Iranian revolution and fall of the Shah. She stayed on to help evacuate over 4,200 civilian Americans from Iran, a period that proved harrowing on more than a few occasions. In fact, her departure in 1979 was on the final plane to leave the country before the Iranians took 52 American hostages.

She evacuated to Germany and met up Bonnie Agahi, a former roommate from her time in Iran who had evacuated earlier. Unfazed by closely witnessing a dramatic and at times violent revolution, they then traveled to Spain, Morocco, and Tunisia. After a short stopover in Monmouth, she moved to Germany and spent two years working for the Department of Defense.

After Germany, she once again settled back in Monmouth and worked for Yamhill County Drug and Alcohol until her retirement. Her love of traveling didn't diminish in her later years, and she visited England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Egypt, Bali, and China. But even though she had a passion for traveling, Grandma Shirley's greatest joy was when her grandchildren and great-grandchildren came to visit her.

In 2007, she met Robert Langager and they were married in March of 2008, at age 81. As Shirley's dementia worsened, in 2009, they moved to the Washington State Veteran's Home in Retsil Washington, and remained happy companions until Bob passed away in 2011. Shirley continued to be well cared for until her death.

Shirley was preceded in death by her son, Scott Klassen (2005), and her brother, Ted Turner, just eight days prior to her own passing.

Shirley is survived by her daughter, Christy (David) Riddell, Momouth, Oregon; her son Bruce (Suzy) Klassen, West Linn, Oregon; her sister, Marylou Graff, Seattle, Washington; her sister-in-law Patricia Turner, Bremerton, Washington; her eight grandchildren Laurice Riddell, Indepedence, Oregon; Anissa Branch, Monmouth, Oregon; Carly Ruhnke, Highland, Kansas; Jessy Pfarrkircher, Berlin, Germany; T.J. Klassen, Sarah Al-Karzoun, Michaele Barrera and J.J. Klassen, Seattle, Washington; her 11 great-grandchildren Dylan, Rhiana, Nyah Branch, Monmouth, Oregon; Metta Beshay, Independence, Oregon; Rex and Zeke Ruhnke, Highland Kansas; Noah and Elise Pfarrkircher, Berlin Germany; Christopher and Nicholas Barrera and Noah Al-Karzoun, Seattle, Washington; her "adopted" granddaughters Hilary Olsen, Lake Oswego, Oregon; Tamara Shannon, Oakland, California; her "adopted" great-granddaughters Audrey and Candice Olsen, Lake Oswego, Oregon; Eva Shannon, Oakland, California; and numerous nieces and nephews.

The family is very grateful to the Washington State Veteran's Home for the excellent care she received. The staff were all very compassionate and treated our Mother/Grandmother with great dignity.

A celebration of Shirley's life will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, September 16, 2016, at Farnstrom Mortuary, 410 Monmouth St, Independence, Oregon, 97351.