Shirley Ronseth, 90

Surrounded by her family, Shirley Ronseth, 90, went to be with her Lord and Savior on September 7, 2025. She passed shortly after celebrating her 90th birthday due to complications from a hip fracture. With love in our hearts and sadness in her passing we honor the beautiful life of Shirley Beller Ronseth.  

Shirley was born in Whitefish in 1935 to Jesse and Adelaide Beller. Shirley was the first born and absolutely adored her younger brother, Jerry. As life was back then everything was a daily struggle, but she found love and joy in the hardships.  

Shirley met her husband, Al Ronseth, on the railroad where they both worked. They were married in 1955 in Whitefish and made that their home. Though they lived humbly, their life was rich with love, laughter, and meaningful moments. Shirley and Al loved to travel and took their daughters to Norway and Europe for seven weeks in 1970. They celebrated their 50th anniversary by taking their family to Maui in 2006. Traveling was their passion, whether it was up to northern Canada, fishing, cruising, Hawaii or camping with friends or grandchildren. She loved dancing, gardening, cross-country skiing, and was a voracious reader. Shirley spent several years volunteering at Muldown Elementary helping children improve their reading skills.

Music was at the core of who Shirley was. In fourth grade she was selected to go to the Drum and Bugle Corps National Convention in St. Louis, Missouri. At the time she played the bugle, but the base drummer fainted and she had to take over his instrument and perform Swedish drum twirling. Under the direction of Mr. Hetrick, the group took sixth in the nation. She played the trumpet throughout junior high and high school and often played taps at military funerals. She also became an accomplished pianist and loved playing the piano and organ at church for many years.  

Shirley worked many different jobs from a young age to help support her family. Her career started when she was eighteen, working for Great Northern Railway then Burlington Northern, and finally Burlington Northern Santa Fe, retiring in 1995 after suffering a heart attack. She fought a number of health issues the last 30 years, but kept her radiant smile, zest for life, and never gave up.

After she retired, she and Al started attending as many concerts as possible. They traveled to Branson, Missouri and made eight trips to North Dakota to attend Norsk Hostfest. After Al passed, Shirley continued going to concerts, even attending Under the Big Sky twice. One would see her either pushing or riding on the seat of her walker or in a wheelchair, but she wasn’t about to miss attending UBS with her family.

She was so blessed with a wonderful healthcare community, and we’d like to thank them for their compassion and unwavering commitment for our mother. This included Drs. Jon and Ron Miller, Dr. Krezowski, Dr. Jon Johnson, Dr. Goodman, Dr. Ness, Dr. Tjaden, Dr. Makman, Dr. Bergman, and Dr. Iwersen. We have peace knowing she is healed and in the loving arms of Jesus.

Our family will be forever grateful to mom’s neighbors and Dana who spent many hours visiting with her and helping her so she could remain living independently in her own home. Mom also loved spending time with her friends, old and new. 

Her family was her most important treasure. She leaves us with the knowledge that we were truly loved. She is survived by daughters Pam (Chris) Blume, Suellen (Steve) Carlson; four grandchildren Katelynn (Scott) Eberle, Courtney (Kyle) Finneman, Trevor (Cara) Carlson and Tyler (Julia) Carlson. Shirley was blessed with nine great-grandchildren: Kenley, Decker, Fallon, Avery, Autumn, August, Adelaide, Asher, and Ethan. Also, beloved sister-in-law Helen Beller Ekeland (Joel) and several nieces and nephews.  

Shirley was known affectionately as “Nanny” or “Old Nans” to her grandchildren. They were her pride and joy, the light in her eyes. She made sure they knew how proud she was of them. She wanted nothing more out of life than to watch her grandchildren and great-grandchildren grow and thrive. She remained ever-present in their lives up until the very end and will live on in our heart's forever.

Memorial services will be held Saturday, August 8th at 11:00 a.m. at Christ Lutheran Church in Whitefish with a luncheon to follow.