Mary Kay Hawley Shelton

Wayne Hawley was here today- Tuesday, November 14th, 2017. He came to pick up his youngest daughter, Mary Kay Hawley Shelton.
Mary was born on May 21st, 1969 in Oshkosh to Wayne and Betty Hawley, the youngest of five girls. She attended Oshkosh North High School and started working at Mike’s Place as a waitress. She was a woman of faith who was active in the Teens Encounter Christ (TEC) community and lived in community at the LaSalle Center for a year after high school.
Mary met her ex-husband and her life- long friend, Brian Shelton, in Oshkosh. She moved to St. Louis, MO where she attended school and worked as a nanny. After relocating to Oshkosh she married Brian and moved to Waukesha where she worked at Vernon Child Development Center for 15 years. She also graduated with her Bachelor’s in Education from Carroll College, and worked as a long-term substitute teacher for Muskego and Waukesha school districts. She completed her life work in the education field as a 4k teacher at All About Learning in Waukesha.
Mary had two very special days in her life. The first was when she was gifted her only child, Margaret. The second was on October 7, 2017 when she walked her daughter down the aisle and was gifted her son in law, Curtis Gilman. Mary gained peace knowing her daughter was gaining many new family members who loved her as their own.
Mary gave joy to everyone who was around her. Mary had a passion for teaching children and encouraging early literacy. Not only was she a teacher to countless people, children and adults, but a second mom. She always put others before herself. She enjoyed traveling with her sisters, going on picnics, and camping with her family. One of her favorite things was to listen to the rain while in her tent or camper.
Mary is survived by her daughter Maggie, son-in-law Curtis, her mother Betty, her four best friends and sisters: Gail Hawley, Bonnie (Rob) Fink, Pamela (Paul) DeLap, and Cristine (Linda Swenson) Montalvo.
She is further survived by her nieces and nephews: Dustin (Heather Swenson) Montalvo, Tony Montalvo, Laura DeLap, Emily DeLap, Ben DeLap, Leah Fink, and Sierra Fink. She also leaves behind her great nieces and nephews: Haiden, Lily, and Julius DeLap, Nicole, Taylor, Boyd and Molly Swenson-Montalvo, Nevaeh Fink and many dear friends young and old.
She was preceded in death by her father, Wayne Russel Hawley; her nieces, Bobbie Jean Fink and Nicole Elizabeth Montalvo and her maternal and paternal grandparents.
A Mass of Christian burial will be held at St Raphael’s Church (830 S. Westhaven Dr.) on Tuesday, November 21st. The visitation will be at 9-11 am with a funeral mass starting at 11 am. There will be a wake the night before, on Monday, November 20th from 4-6pm with story sharing between 6-7 p.m. and a prayer service at 7p.m. at Konrad-Behlman Funeral Home (100 Lake Pointe Drive, Oshkosh.)
There will also be a memorial service at Vernon Presbyterian Church on Saturday, December 2nd at 3-5 pm, followed by a picnic at 5 pm. Vernon Presbyterian Church is at S71 W23280 National Ave, Big Bend, WI 53103.
In lieu of flowers a memorial fund will be established to benefit children’s programs that Mary was passionate about.
The family would like to express deep gratitude to Dr. Ahmed Al-Niaimi, MD and the staff at UW Carbone Center, her care team at Fox Valley Hematology and Oncology and Heartland Hospice for their compassion and support.