Shirley Marie (Paye) Evans

Shirley Marie
(Paye) Evans

July 1, 1954 • January 18, 2025

Shirley Marie (Paye) Evans, 70, of Kerkhoven, Minnesota, formerly of Cavour, SD, passed away early Saturday morning, January 18, 2025, at CentraCare Rice Memorial Hospital in Willmar. Her visitation will be 5:00-7:00 p.m., Thursday, January 30, at Harvey Anderson Funeral Home in Willmar. Her memorial service will be 1:00 p.m., Saturday, February 8, at Hitchcock Methodist Church in Hitchcock, South Dakota.
Shirley was born July 1, 1954, in Huron, SD, and grew up in Cavour, SD. She was named after both of her grandmothers.  She was the daughter of Ray Oscar Paye and Iola Mildred (Andresen) Paye.  She would help her dad and uncles with farm chores and baling hay. She would hang out in the garage helping with mechanical work when they needed a gopher. She graduated from Huron High School in May 1972.
December 11, 1973, she married Ronald James Walter. To this union they had a daughter, Tasma. They divorced June 30, 1980, but remained lifelong friends.
She began her career in restaurants working alongside her Aunt Marion at the Magness Café out by Bales Sale Yard. She then worked at the Hickory House Motor Inn, West Park and Reminder Printing, until she moved to Minnesota.  She was an amazing chef and excellent waitress. She loved working at The Reminder as she would put catalogs together and was learning new skills. She loved this job, but fell in love and followed her new husband to Minnesota.
She married Merrill Evans June 23, 1982, and they moved to rural Kerkhoven, Minnesota. She took some time off from outside work; the farm proved to be enough work. She would often chop wood for the furnace or tend to the farm animals and raised her daughter. She and her family moved to the town of Kerkhoven in 1985. Her sister, Paula and her son, Christopher moved to Minnesota and she took care of Christopher while Paula attended Vo-Tech. She started work at the Kerkhoven Pool Hall and served many in the community, when Christopher started preschool. She would whip out many meals on an evening after the Saints ballgames as the place would be packed on game nights.
She had a career change after she had a divorce and a major medical emergency. She decided to go to college with her daughter in 1991. She received her Associates of Arts Degree in Business Administration from Willmar Community College and her Bachelor of Science Degree from Southwest State University through their accelerated program. She always made the honor roll and was dedicated to her education. During college, she began to work at Willmar Community College and that transpired to a long career at Ridgewater College working in communications for the IT courses and other various jobs there. She was laid off due to program cuts and then worked for Pioneer Library System prior to her heart attack.
In August of 1996, she gained a most wonderful son, Patrick Gordon Wilke, when he married her daughter. She loved him and was so proud of him and in later years appreciated his help as she lost some of her strength. In 1997, she purchased her first home and her daughter helped as her loan processor for her financing. She was so excited to buy her first home where she lived until she passed.
In February 2013, she had a major heart attack after her layoff from the college. She was in the hospital for many weeks. She lived with Pat and Taz for about a year while she recovered. These last years have been bonus years that were a true gift for her family. The community rallied around her with an amazing benefit that was put on by friends and neighbors to help her financially. She was forever grateful to everyone involved.
She loved her family and was always so proud of her siblings, Norene, Terry and her baby sister, Paula (even if she took the baby status of the family away from her). She loved being a grandma. She enjoyed keeping in touch with her nieces and nephews and their extended families. She loved her family with her whole heart.
She was so happy to share time with her grandchildren: Alison, Bradley and Caleigh, and her great-grandson, Luca. These bonus years allowed her to see them graduate from high school and be present at many of their school events as well as her nephew, Ian’s.
She loved music and listening to her brother-in- law, Jerry play in his bands. She shared her love with music with her family and many friends over the years. She would often sing out a dout-dout do when she forgot the lyrics. She was always ready for our all-day pontoon rallies on the lake. She could not swim so she would watch her family and stay in the shade or hold the babies. She enjoyed the senior gatherings at the Civic Center with neighbors and friends and craft nights at the library. She loved to take pictures. She was fond of monarch butterflies and had milkweed by her house as the caterpillars would build their cocoons and transform into such amazing monarchs. She had flower gardens and would garden when she felt well. She collected and read books. Her favorite authors were Steven King and James Patterson. She enjoyed watching tv and movies. She was fond of old classic cars especially Chevy’s. What she loved most was spending time with her family.
Shirley was such a caring genuine person and would always have time to talk and had the best sense of humor.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her paternal grandparents, Horace and Hilda (Broderson) Paye; her maternal grandparents, Harry and Shirley (O’Neal) Andresen; her uncles: Leonard, Roy, Bud Paye, Stanley and Alan Andresen; and her aunts: Marion Reineke, Ruth Kruzefeldt, and Dorothy Paye; her sister, Gloria Paye; her brother-in-law, John Bult; her cousins: Michael Paye, Bradley Patridge; and her nephew Charles Cheney.
She is survived by her daughter, Tasma Paye-Wilke and Patrick Wilke; her siblings: Paula and Jerry Caldwell, Terry Paye and Norene Bult (Craig Eierman). She is survived by her grandchildren: Alison, Bradley (Alexa Freborg) and Caleigh Wilke; and her great-grandson, Luca Gordon Herzog.  She also had a bonus granddaughter, Keaira Tillman; nieces and nephews: Cindy Hargan, Chad (Bonnie)  and Chet Palmer, Wendy (Adam)  and Darren (Brandie Pitts) Paye, Christopher and Jennifer Paye, Nick and Nicole DeCathelineau,  Ian Caldwell, Carson DeCathelineau and many cousins and extended family members.
Arrangements are with Harvey Anderson & Johnson Funeral Home in Willmar. www.hafh.org