Mary J. Shelton
May 26, 1933 — February 15, 2015
Mary Joan Shelton was born on May 26, 1933 to David John and Mary Elizabeth Williams in Colwyn Bay, North Wales. She was baptized at St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church and was raised in the Catholic faith until the family moved to Harlan, Iowa. She attended primary and secondary school at St. Joseph’s. After her graduation, she trained in the high class dress shop in Colwyn Bay.
She became ill with tuberculosis and had to leave her job at the dress shop due to this illness. She was hospitalized for several years at the sanitarium which led to her love of nursing. She traveled to Anakra, Turkey as a nurse with the International Red Cross and met James Shelton who was stationed there with the Air Force. They were married on December 11, 1964 in Anakra, Turkey. They became parents to three children: Debby, James, and Pat. Mary changed jobs as James was moved around the world while in the Air Force. In 1979, the family settled in Iowa and Mary returned to her nursing career at Mercy Hospital in Council Bluffs, Iowa. She worked there until her retirement in 2001.
Mary loved to be in her garden, tending to her flowers, loved doing crafts, but mostly loved the time she was able to spend with her grandchildren.
Mary died on Sunday, February 15, 2015 at the Little Flower Haven Nursing Home in Earling, Iowa, having attained the age of eighty-one years, eight months, and twenty days. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband James, and sister Marjory Jones.
She is survived by her children: Debby and her husband Corey Campbell of Irwin, Iowa, James Shelton, Jr. and his wife Dori of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and Pat Shelton and his wife Jennifer of Harlan, Iowa; nine grandchildren; sister Auntie Pat Jones of Liverpool, England; brother John Williams of Porthcawl, South Wales; other family members and many friends.
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She became ill with tuberculosis and had to leave her job at the dress shop due to this illness. She was hospitalized for several years at the sanitarium which led to her love of nursing. She traveled to Anakra, Turkey as a nurse with the International Red Cross and met James Shelton who was stationed there with the Air Force. They were married on December 11, 1964 in Anakra, Turkey. They became parents to three children: Debby, James, and Pat. Mary changed jobs as James was moved around the world while in the Air Force. In 1979, the family settled in Iowa and Mary returned to her nursing career at Mercy Hospital in Council Bluffs, Iowa. She worked there until her retirement in 2001.
Mary loved to be in her garden, tending to her flowers, loved doing crafts, but mostly loved the time she was able to spend with her grandchildren.
Mary died on Sunday, February 15, 2015 at the Little Flower Haven Nursing Home in Earling, Iowa, having attained the age of eighty-one years, eight months, and twenty days. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband James, and sister Marjory Jones.
She is survived by her children: Debby and her husband Corey Campbell of Irwin, Iowa, James Shelton, Jr. and his wife Dori of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and Pat Shelton and his wife Jennifer of Harlan, Iowa; nine grandchildren; sister Auntie Pat Jones of Liverpool, England; brother John Williams of Porthcawl, South Wales; other family members and many friends.
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