Shirley Jeanne Marsteller passed away at the age of 90 in Lakeland, Florida on October 15, 2026. She was born February 22, 1936 in Sault Ste. Marie, MI to Forrest Pitcher and Katherine (Mikkola) Pitcher.

 After graduating in 1953 from Wayne High School in Wayne, MI, Shirley went to Bryan College in Dayton, Tennessee where she met the love of her life, David L. Marsteller. Shirley and David married on August 10, 1957 after graduating with bachelor’s degrees from Bryan College. They then moved to Michigan where David went to seminary while Shirley began teaching and working on her master’s degree. It was there she gave birth to their first child in 1960. In 1961, while pregnant with their second child, Shirley also completed a master’s degree from Michigan State University. She then taught school and reared 5 children while also working alongside David as he served as senior pastor of three different churches from 1961-2001. After retiring from teaching and the pulpit, Shirley and David moved their home base of operations to Lakeland, Florida where they then served overseas in Australia, Cambodia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the Philippines, Poland and Taiwan as interim missionaries under Baptist World Mission from 2001-2014. 

Shirley’s love for God and her family was consistently shown in the many ways she cared for everyone. Whether it was teaching, proof reading doctoral theses, sharing meals, cleaning anything and everything, or planting flowers, Shirley gave her all and worked harder and faster than most people. After teaching for over 20 years (17 of those years at Calvary Baptist Academy, Midland, MI) and serving in ministry with David for over 50 years, Shirley is remembered as a faithful woman of God, loving wife, mother and grandmother, lover of the English language, avid reader, cleaning aficionado, and a master of asking three questions in one. She and her insatiable curiosity will be missed. 

Shirley is preceded in death by her husband David, her parents, her two sons, David Linden and Stephen Andrew. 

She is survived by her two sisters Ruby (Pitcher) Kew, Linda (Pitcher) Rowe, daughters and sons-in-law Kathy & Lester Lippincott of Lakeland, FL, Karen & William Cunnien of Belleville, MI, Krysten & George Helewa of El Cajon, CA, daughters-in-law Janice (David) Marsteller of Toledo, OH, and Christy (Stephen) Marsteller of Jackson, WY. Shirley is also survived by her grandchildren Lester & Sarah Lippincott, Laura (Lippincott) & Nathan Paugh, Leilani (Lippincott) Rodman, Luana (Lippincott) & John-Jay Barton, David Cunnien, Drew & Kayla Cunnien, Jenna Cunnien, Joel Cunnien, Kaeleb Cunnien, Aylin Marsteller, Amira Helewa, Jasmine Helewa and great grandchildren Juliet, Eliza and Lucy Lippincott; Kalea, Kainoa, and Makaio Paugh; Amelia and Kathryn Barton and Oliver Cunnien. 

Services for Shirley J. Marsteller will be held in the following locations:

Wednesday, November 4, 2026
Hope Baptist Church, 5525 N. Hope Rd. Hope, MI 48628
10:00 AM Visitation
11:00 AM Service

Wednesday, January 20, 2027
Fellowship Baptist Church
4625 Cleveland Heights Blvd. Lakeland, FL 33813 
10:00 AM Visitation
11:00 AM Service