Conard "Whiskers" Shelley (Lebanon)'s Obituary
Conard Monroe Shelley, son of Alva and Noga Andersen Shelley, was born November 26, 1922, in Effingham County, Illinois. On Sunday, April 22, 2018, he left Lebanon South Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, in Lebanon, Missouri, for his forever home, at the age of ninety-five years, four months, and twenty-six days.
On December 11, 1943, he was united in marriage to Eleanor L. Parker, and to this union one daughter and three sons were born.
He was preceded in death by his parents; four brothers, Ray, Aden, Henry, and Jay; and two sisters, Esta and Ruth.
“Whiskers”, as he was also called by his family and friends, is survived by his loving wife of seventy-four years, Eleanor, of the home; a daughter, Sally Shelley, of Evanston, Illinois; three sons, Monte Shelley, and his wife, Ruth, of Lebanon, Missouri, Jeff Shelley, and his wife, Karen, of West Chicago, Illinois, and Tim Shelley, of Three Oaks, Michigan; eight grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; a number of nieces and nephews; as well as a host of other relatives and friends.
He was raised on a farm just off Route 70, and made many faithful friendships with other farmers in the area. At the age of eighteen, Whiskers began his employment as a heavy equipment operator and later performed management functions in the pipeline industry, before and after the war. Conard served our country faithfully in the military from 1943 until 1946, during World War II. He was a mechanic for the P47 Thunderbolt Fighter planes, and was a Staff Sergeant in the Army Air Corps. He spent eighteen months in Europe, mostly in England, Germany and France, and near Omaha Beach. He also helped build the Utah Beach air strip, and during that time, the enemy would send airplanes at night to wake the U.S. soldiers and take away their sleep. They called the planes “Bed-Check-Charlie”. Whiskers was honorably discharged from the service at Rockford, Illinois, with 80 points, on the very day that the peace treaty was signed with Japan.
While in the military, Whisker met and married Eleanor and she waited for him in Toledo, Ohio while he was in the service. When he came home, they made their home in Paola, Kansas. Following years of traveling for work, the family settled in Wheaton, Illinois.
In 1955, both Whiskers and Eleanor came to know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior in a small country church near Wheaton, Illinois. Eleanor trusted Christ on February 2nd and Whiskers on February 3rd. He commented that the folks at that church “loved them into the Kingdom of God”. He also noted that the church folks thought he was on his way out when he walked to the back of the building, but changed their minds when he walked up the aisle to accept Christ, with tears in his eyes. Whiskers liked to point out that his wife only had to live with an unsaved husband for one day!
After his retirement in 1984, at the age of sixty-two, Whiskers went immediately to assist Wycliff Bible Translators, and then on to Maranatha Ministries. Next he served as grounds keeper at the New Tribes Language School in Camdenton, Missouri for fourteen years. During this time, Whiskers donated his time and work efforts to the ministry of New Tribes.
In 2000, Whiskers “retired again” from New Tribes and he and Eleanor made their home in Lebanon, Missouri, where they attended Emmanuel Chapel Bible Church, and held services at local nursing homes, sharing the gospel as God led. For the last two years, Whiskers and Eleanor had been members of Hillcrest Baptist Church in Lebanon.
Whiskers enjoyed the song, “Little Is Much When God Is In It”. In giving advice, he liked to say, “Bloom where you are planted; Do good as God’s spirit prompts you to act; Use the resources God provides you with, even if small; You can be a Christian or a Mission Field…it’s your choice; No educational degree is required to do God’s will in your life; and Treat all with respect, and admit when you are wrong.”
Memorial contributions may be made to Ethnos360, and left at the funeral home.
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