Shirley Ann (Schroeder) Luedtke

Shirley Luedtke, age 92 of Clarissa, passed away on Tuesday, August 5, 2025, at the CentraCare Hospital in Long Prairie. 

A funeral service in her honor will take place on Monday, August 11, 2025 at the St. Matthews Lutheran Church in Clarissa at 11:00 AM. Visitation will take place one hour prior to the service at the church. Burial will immediately follow at the church cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to St. Jude's

Shirley Ann was born on December 4, 1932, the daughter of Alfred and Eva (Persons) Schroeder of Long Prairie, Minnesota. Shirley attended country school until the 3rd grade, when the school closed. By then, her family had moved to Eagle Bend, where she attended grade school and graduated from high school. Shirley then continued her education and received a teaching degree. Shirley then began a career that would span the next 33 years of her life, teaching second, third, fifth, and sixth grades for the school districts in Maynard and MACCRAY. During her teaching years, Shirley was married; the marriage later dissolved, but she was blessed with four children.

Having been raised during the Great Depression, Shirley held tightly to the values her parents lived by and passed on to her. She learned that you never throw away a good, sturdy box, you reuse paper, and you always hold on to a good pen. Shirley is remembered as a loving, caring, happy-go-lucky woman who was creative and extremely talented. Shirley shared her musical talent not only in her churches but also in the schools where she taught, and she often played at weddings and funerals. She was an American Legion Auxiliary member for many years in Maynard. The fun side of her introduced the game “Bunco” to the ladies for their Christmas party! Shirley was the kind of grandma you’d find cheering loudly from the stands at her grandchildren’s sporting events. She loved playing games herself and was an avid birdwatcher in her spare time. Perhaps her greatest pastime, though, was being a devoted Minnesota Twins fan. She proudly wore her Twins gear and kept her own scorecard during every game.

She valued her small-town farming community upbringing and served her communities in many ways—as a church musician, a religious education teacher, a Bible school leader, and through involvement in various church programs. After retirement, Shirley returned to her roots in the Eagle Bend–Clarissa area. She immediately rejoined her home church, where she volunteered as an organist.

It was at church that Shirley was introduced to Earl Luedtke, a local bachelor. The two began spending time together at different church functions, and before long, a fondness grew between them. Earl knew very quickly that he had met an amazing woman and asked her to marry him. The two were united in marriage at St. Matthew's Lutheran Church, and created a life they loved on the Luedtke Century Farm outside Clarissa. The couple wanted to pass on their strong faith to their family along with a special gift, so they created a fund to help pay for their great-grandchildren's education! The only catch was that they wanted the applicant to write a faith statement to share with them.

On Tuesday, August 5, 2025, Shirley earned her own set of wings and left us here on earth and joined her faithful Savior in heaven. She leaves behind her husband of twenty-four years, Earl Luedtke; Children, John (Cathy) Bristle, Dave (Rona) Bristle, Dan (Brenda) Bristle of Maynard, MN; Janet (Larry) Bosch of Vero Beach, FL; 11 grandchildren; 25 great-grandchildren; brother Lauren Schroeder of Poland, OH; sister Sharon Quale of Eagle Bend, MN; nephews Greg Schroeder of NY, Doug (Geri) Quale of Madison, WI, Steven Quale of Santa Monica, CA. 

She is preceded in death by her parents, Alfred and Eva Schroeder; nephew, Brent Schroeder; niece, Cirenya Schroeder Rose; in-laws, Elfrieda (Luedtke) and Walter Carlson.

To send flowers to the family, please visit our floral store.