Shirley Newport

Shirley Jean Newport,

84, Minot, died Monday,

October 11, 2021 in a

Minot Hospital.

Shirley was born Oc-

tober 28, 1936 in Chicago,

Illinois; the first of two

children to Nels and

Kathryn (Vitrachenko)

Sorensen. She moved

with her family to Minot

and they operated the

South Prairie Service

Store (a gas, grocery and

Cafe) south of Minot for

several years.

She attended Minot

High School and graduat-

ed in 1954. She met her

future husband there and

they were united in mar-

riage on December 19,

1954 at Saron Lutheran

Church, south of Minot.

Shirley was employed

at Lunder’s Kiddyland, lo-

cated at Roosevelt Park

Zoo, Gaffney’s as a book-

keeper, and served as a

nanny for a family. Along

with raising their four

daughters, she worked in

the administration offices

of Fisher Motors, John

Moses Air Force Hospital

and finally at the Minot

Air Force Base as a court

reporter in the Pride

Building for the JAG

(Judge Advocate General).

She continued to work

there, while commuting

on weekends to Lincoln,

NE to be with Levi and

the girls while he was

working with Burlington

Northern Railroad. Later

she would move with her

husband, while he was

stationed at St. Paul, MN,

Overland Park, KS and

Fort Worth, TX. When

Levi retired in 1996, they

returned to Minot to the

home they had built in

the early 1960’s.

Shirley had a big heart

for the underdog. She

helped young kids and

served as a mentor to

them, often treating them

as one of her own. Many

of the neighborhood chil-

dren congregated at her

home. She was a lover of

all animals. Everyone

brought their ailing cats,

dogs, birds and iguanas.

During their retirement,

Shirley and Levi enjoyed

playing secret Santa, and

were avid contributors to

various wildlife and sea

life charities, such as the

Wildlife Federation and

National Audubon So-

ciety. She especially was

devoted to giving to the

St. Jude’s Children’s

Research Hospital.

She and Levi enjoyed

travelling to visit with

their children and

grandchildren, enjoying

the sites and scenery

along the way. Levi died

January 26, 2014.

Shirley’s faith in God

was immense. Although

she brought her family up

Lutheran, she often at-

tended St. Leos Catholic

Church and many of their

activities, such as the

Bishop Ryan Catholic

School Carnivals. From

the time she was a young

girl, she sought out a

church on her own. She

was proud to say she was

a Catholic at heart, a Luth-

eran by marriage, she did

encourage her children to

explore and find a church

of their own.

Shirley enjoyed attend-

ing the local YMCA,

where she participated

with her good friend,

Charlotte Rust in the

Aquasize class there. In

her spare time, Shirley

could be found reading,

visiting with friends, play-

ing Tetris, doing cross-

word puzzles and watch-

ing TV, especially black

and white movies.

Her loving family in-

cludes, children, Peg

(Tim) Jensen, Moose Lake,

MN, Vicki Newport, Wil-

lernie, MN, Kathy (Daniel)

Nelson, Coon Rapids, MN

and Julie Corbin, Maple-

ton, IL; grandchildren,

Christopher (Nikki) Jen-

sen, Tianna Jensen, Mar-

garet Nelson, Andy Nel-

son, Anthony Corbin,

Alexander (Cari) Corbin,

Adam Corbin; great

grandchildren, Amelia

and Nico; nieces, Tasha

and Terra.

Shirley was preceded

in death by her parents;

husband of nearly 60

years, Levi; brother, Ric

and son in law, Daniel

Corbin.

Public Graveside ser-

vice: Monday, October 18,

2021 at 11:00 a.m. in Sec-

tion 1 (Gate 3) of Rosehill

Memorial Park, Minot. A

livestream of the service

will take place by access-

ing the obituary on the

funeral home website at

(www.thomasfamily

funeral.com)

Public Visitation: Sun-

day, October 17th from

1:00 – 3:00 p.m. in the

Thomas Family Funeral

Home, Minot.

In lieu of flowers,

memorials: are preferred

to St. Jude’s Children’s

Research Hospital.