Shirley Gaerte Svaan

   Shirley Gaerte Svaan, born Nov. 21, 1927, was promoted to be with her LORD on Sept. 4, 2008. She was born in Wabash to Esta R. and Nettie Smith Gaerte, the youngest of three daughters. She graduated from Laketon High School in 1945, and from Taylor University in 1949. There she met John Svaan. They were married in 1949. She later earned a Master of Education degree from Indiana University.
   She taught elementary school in Grant County for one year, and in Cook County, IL, for two years. She and John spent two years on the Hopi Reservation in northern Arizona, where she taught in the Keams Canyon elementary school. She taught Hopi and Navajo children, sometimes assisted by student teachers placed through an IU program for preparing teachers for inner city and reservation teaching. After the Svaans returned to Bloomington Shirley was employed by IU School of Education program preparing student teachers. After John and his partner formed Indiana Evaluation Services, Shirley worked for the company as a psychometrist, doing psychological testing in sheltered workshops, developmental preschools and group homes. She and John serviced an area stretching from Bloomington through much of southern Indiana.
   She is survived by John, her husband of 59 years, and by her children, their spouses, and eight grandchildren: Eric and Natalie Calhoun Svaan and their daughters Chara, Angela, and Callie; Rebecca Svaan; Kristine Svaan Impini and Dario Impini, and their sons Kyle and Steven; and Joanna Svaan Langberg and Alex Langberg, and Samantha, Nicholas, and Erik. Other survivors include her sister and brother-in-law, Jim and Janis Gaerte Bicheno of Colorado Springs, CO.; four nieces and two nephews.
   Throughout her life Shirley devoted herself to her home, her husband, their four children, and the ministry of hospitality. Shirley had many interests. She was a skilled seamstress; she valued solitary school days, alone at home to sew for herself, her children and many others. She cultivated a deep relationship with God, and loved the world of Nature that God made, tending her garden and feeding the birds. In all she did she expressed a servant’s heart. She loved the children she taught, especially the primary students in her church school class. She kept in touch with many of them later in life. Many summers she ran the dishwasher at Camp Olivet, the church camp, where she was able to be around children. For many years she was a discussion leader in Bible Study Fellowship. Her discipling efforts were empathetic and gentle. For many international students, her home was their home away from home in Bloomington. Her Christian character reinforced her public confession. Those who knew her would mention how her character had impacted them.
   A memorial service will be conducted on Sunday, Sept. 14, at 2:30 p.m. at Evangelical Community Church of Bloomington, located at High Street and Second Street. Pastor Robert Whitaker and former pastor David Faris will officiate.
   In lieu of flowers, memorial remembrances may be directed to any hospice agency. The Bloomington Hospital Hospice Service provided outstanding care during Shirley’s illness. Alternatively a contribution may be made to International Students Inc. (ISI).

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