Shirley A. Mandernack

Service Details

Services celebrating Shirley’s life will be held in Draeger-Langendorf Funeral Home on Monday, May 12, 2025 at 12:00PM with Rev. Kathleen Gloff officiating. Visitation will be in the funeral home on Monday from 10:00AM until the time of service. Interment will follow at Oakwood Cemetery in Somers.

Memorial Suggestions

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials to Hawthorne Hollow Nature Sanctuary or the Somers Community United Church of Christ.

Shirley A. Mandernack, of the Village of Somers, passed away at her residence on Saturday, May 3, 2025. She was born in Racine on July 1, 1936, the daughter of Erving and Marie (née Rasmussen) Ingrouille. She graduated from Washington Park High School, and later married Ralph G. Mandernack, of Kenosha, on July 10, 1954.

A stay-at-home mom until all of her children were enrolled in school, Shirley started volunteering in the university library at the newly established University of Wisconsin – Parkside. She soon was hired as a full-time employee of the library, working in the circulation unit and the public services unit. She eventually was recruited to the Chancellor’s Office, where she served as Administrative Assistant to the Vice Chancellor and ultimately to the Chancellor, a position she held until her retirement in 1999.  Throughout much of her time working at the university, she also took classes on a part-time basis, earning her bachelor’s degree a year after her retirement.

Shirley loved to travel, visiting nearly all U.S. states and enjoying a number of international excursions, including Japan, Russia, India, Australia, Thailand, Uganda. and Kenya, among others. She enjoyed summertime vacations at their lakeside cottage near Three Lakes, Wisconsin, and she loved getting together with friends and family. The strength of her friendships was particularly evident in her “Club,” a group of childhood friends who met nearly every month for decades. Her great joy in spending time with her grandchildren and great grandchildren was a clear expression of her heart. She reveled in delight with each new addition to her extended family. Shirley was a member of the Somers Community United Church of Christ, and she also served on the Somers Planning Commission for several years and volunteered at the Kenosha Museum and at Hawthorne Hollow Nature Sanctuary.

Preceded in death by her parents and her husband, surviving are her children, Brett (Carole) Mandernack, of Glen Haven, WI; Scott (Marilyn) Mandernack of Franksville; Kevin (Kumi) Mandernack of Pleasant Hill, CA; and Lance Mandernack of Los Angeles, CA; nine grandchildren; nine great grandchildren; and other relatives.

Shirley will be deeply missed, remembered for her genuine warmth, her gregarious nature, her infectious smile, and her love for family and friends.