Berdean Rosella (Peper) Shinnan was born on April 21, 1935 in Eagle River, Wisconsin the daughter of Russell and Charlotte (Haug) Peper. Their family moved to the Amery area and she graduated from Amery High School in 1953. She was united in marriage to John Shinnan. They lived in Seattle, Washington, Toronto and later Kirchner Ontario. John was a Kirby Distributor and she worked as his secretary and bookkeeper. She later worked as a secretary for Douglas Corporation in the twin cities for many years. She was an avid sports fan and supported the Green Bay Packers with a passion. She liked watching the Brewers, but her favorite baseball player was Derek Jeter. She loved her old cars a Subaru and a favorite 1962 Olds Starfire. She would let family use the car for special events like prom, but she knew how far it had been driven when it returned. When she was 59 Berdean suffered a stroke. She moved to Amery where she resided in the Hi-rise. The past few years she has lived at Willow Ridge Healthcare in Amery where she died on Saturday, January 7, 2012 at the age of 76 years.
Berdean was preceded in death by her parents and brothers John and Charlie Peper. Surviviing family members include her brother Gary (Mardelle) Peper; sisters: Marlene (Norm) Bohn and Debbie Monzel; sisters-in-law Lois Peper and Charlotte Peper. She also leaves many nieces and nephews and other relatives and friends.
Memorial services will be held on Thursday, January 12, 2012 at 2:00 p.m. at the Williamson-White Funeral Home in Amery. There will be a visiting time for the hour prior to the service. Interment will be at Trinity Lutheran Cemetery.