Shirley Irene (Sallenbach) Stevenson

Shirley Irene Sallenbach Stevenson, beloved wife of the late Joseph Aziel Stevenson, passed away peacefully in Raymond, Alberta, Canada on August 20, 2026, at the age of 95. She was a woman of unwavering faith and devotion to God and family.

Shirley was born September 20, 1930, in Vulcan, Alberta, Canada. She was the third of seven children, and second daughter, in the Otto and Ivy Sallenbach family. She was an easy-going, good-natured child, which earned her the nickname of “Sugar Doll” from her dad. As a young girl, Shirley loved playing with her sisters and cousins, making paper dolls, creating dollhouses from clothespins, playing games like hopscotch, anti-anti-I-over, and kick-the-can, and listening to The Shadow Knows and The Lone Ranger on the radio.

Growing up during the Great Depression was a challenge for her family. They moved many times as her dad tried to find better employment. Later, health challenges for her dad caused additional moves. As a result, Shirley attended many different schools. As a seventh grader, her family moved to Rosemary where she attended a school where seventh and eighth grades were combined. During her first year there, most of the courses covered eighth-grade subjects. She struggled but managed to pass. When she got into eighth grade, most of the courses covered seventh-grade subjects. As a result, she had already taken most of the material and passed with honors. As a reward, she didn’t have to write final exams that year and got out of school a week early!

As a child, Shirley loved to attend Primary. She and her family walked the two and a half miles to church and back so they could attend. Her family was too poor to afford bus tickets for so many. At eight years of age, Shirley was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Later, as a third-year Beehive, Shirley earned the Honor Bee award. As a Gleaner, she filled the requirements to run for Queen at the Gold and Green Ball. Then, in 1956, she completed the requirements to be awarded Golden Gleaner and was the only girl in Edmonton to earn this award that year. These early acts set a foundation of faith and a love of Jesus Christ that would last throughout her lifetime.

Shirley was passionate and faithful in filling church responsibilities. As a seventeen-year-old, she served as secretary of the Young Women’s Mutual Improvement Association. At nineteen, she served as secretary of the Sunday School, and then at twenty, as president of the M-Men and Gleaner class. At twenty-one she served eighteen months in the Eastern Canada mission, spending time in Toronto and Kitchener, Ontario. She described her mission as hard, saying, “We worked sixty hours a week giving many, many people the opportunity to hear the gospel." She found tremendous joy when someone did join the Church. She became dear friends with a woman who joined the church, who her children came to know as Sister Foster. The two remained friends and communicated through cards and letters for the remainder of Sister Foster’s life.

Shirley loved serving in Primary. She served as a teacher, a counselor, and twice as Primary President. Her other callings included Young Women counselor, Relief Society teacher, Relief Society President twice, and Ward Activities Chairman twice. She also served as both secretary and counselor in the Stake Relief Society Presidency.

Family was of the utmost importance to Shirley. She married her eternal sweetheart, Joe, on September 27, 1958, in the Cardston Alberta Temple. They were blessed with six children: Karen, Greg, John, Jim, Marilyn, and Julianne. Spending time together was a priority, with many great memories created doing yardwork and gardening, on summer vacations, ski trips, camping trips, and extended family reunions, with First of July celebrations being a highlight.

Shirley loved her grandchildren. She would frequently mention that the grandkids lived too far away and tease that if she had known her children would all move to the US, she wouldn’t have allowed any to attend BYU or Ricks College. However, she did her best to make up for it by visiting them often. Her grandchildren are a living tribute to her beautiful life.

Shirley is survived by her children Karen (Milan) Westenskow, Greg (DeeDee), John (Wendi), Jim (Shelly), Marilyn (Adam) Jacobsen, and Julie (Joe) Lewis, 30 grandchildren, and 30 great-grandchildren with more on the way. She is also survived by her siblings Ted Sallenbach, Glenn Sallenbach, and Beverly Fisher. She is predeceased by her eternal companion, Joseph Aziel Stevenson, her loving parents, Otto Sallenbach and Ivy Leone Nielson, along with her siblings, Lloyd Sallenbach, Betty Landseidel, and Marlene Hawryluk.

In honour of Shirley, we invite all who knew and loved her to share their memories and upload photos on her memorial page. Your stories and pictures will bring comfort and help keep her spirit alive in our hearts.

Friends may meet the family on Monday, September 7, 2026, at 11:00 a.m., with a funeral service to follow at 12:30p.m. at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Knight Street Chapel, 260 East 200 North, Raymond, Alberta. Interment will follow at Temple Hill Cemetery. We are inviting all who would like to wear pink to the funeral in honour of Shirley to do so, since she loved pink so much.

Live-stream and recording of the service will be available and a link will appear below this obituary 15 minutes before service time.