Shirley Vorpahl

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Shirley Lou Vorpahl, of Colorado Springs, Colo., lost her battle with cancer and passed from this life into the arms of her Lord on Aug. 12, 2008. She was born in Forest City, Iowa, to Albert and Addie Borg. Educated for the first six grades in a one room rural schoolhouse she went on to graduate from Forest City High School. She entered nurses training and graduated from the Naeve Hospital School of Nursing in Albert Lea in 1964. She was a critical care/coronary care nurse for 33 years before retiring from Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs in 1997.
She married her husband, Tom, in June 1965 and promptly became a traveling Air Force wife for the next 30 years. Tom is the son of the late Arnold and Florence Vorpahl of Albert Lea.
Shirley had several passions in life to include nursing, nurturing her grandchildren, gardening, college football, and fishing, all of which she pursued with great enthusiasm. She was committed to serving her community, and the less fortunate, wherever she happened to be living. She volunteered extensively through her church, her professional nursing work, and various organizations.
She was an active member of the Gleneagle Sertoma Club and the Susan G Komen for the Cure Cancer Foundation where she served as a member of the Grants Committee for several years.
Shirley is survived by Tom, her husband of 43 years; daughters Cynthia Purcell and Christine Lusk, both of San Antonio, Texas; and grandchildren: Zachary and Nicholas Purcell and Jackson and Lauren Lusk. She is also survived by her twin sister, Sharon Turner of Lakeland; her brothers: Eldean Borg of Mt Vernon, Iowa, Lyle Borg of Pella, Iowa; and sisters: Betty Sailsbury of Ames, Iowa, Julie Johnson, of Colby Wis., and Pauline Thielke, of Urbandale, Iowa; sisters-in-law: Laura (husband Leon) Steffen and Patricia (husband Dale) Peters both of Albert Lea.
Shirley was blessed with wonderful family and friends. We are grateful for the support they provided and the joy they added to her final weeks of life.
Death leaves a heartache no one can heal
Love leaves a memory no one can steal