Hazel Ieleen Shelton, of rural Dixon, was born on June 3, 1933, at Cook Station, a daughter of Bert Gentry and Mary Jane (Crider) Faulkner, and departed this life at 1:10 p.m., on Friday, September 22, 2017, in the Mercy Hospital, Springfield, after suffering a stroke on September 10, 2017. She had attained the age of 84 years, 3 months, and 19 days.

Mrs. Shelton was united in marriage on December 14, 2015, at Dixon, to Edward Wilburn Shelton, who survives at the home in rural Dixon.

She and her husband attended the Victory Hill Baptist Church near Dixon. Mrs. Shelton lived a Christian life and was a good hearted person. Activities she especially enjoyed included fishing, embroidering, and gardening, with her favorite times of the year being Thanksgiving and Christmas. Following her schooling, Mrs. Shelton had taken special training to become a Nurses' Aide, and after completion, became a Certified Nurses' Aide. During her working life, she was employed by the Phelps County Hospital and McFarland Nursing Home, both in Rolla, as a Nurses' Aide. Mrs. Shelton was later employed in restaurant work as a cook as well as being a devoted wife, mother, and homemaker.

In addition to her husband, those left to mourn the passing of Mrs. Shelton include: Her children, Betty Jo Keasling and husband, Clifford, and Neil Soper and wife, Barbara, all of St. James, John Soper and wife, Eva, of Houston, Texas, and Carl Soper and wife, Sheri, of Fordland; her eighteen grandchildren and fifteen great-grandchildren; her step-children, Kenneth Shelton of Holts Summit, and Ruby Marie Shelton and Randy Shelton both of Dixon; her five step-grandchildren and two step-great-grandchildren; her two sisters, Wilma Chatin and husband, Paul, of Lebanon, and Betty Jane Lemler and husband, Gary, of Colfax, Wisconsin; and other relatives and friends.


She was preceded in death by one son, Terry Lee Soper, on March 3, 2016; her father, Bert, on March 3, 1988; her mother, Mary Jane, on October 3, 1979; her brother, Howard Gentry Faulkner, on August 24, 1914; a step-son, Charles Edward Shelton, on October 25, 1960; and a step-grandson, Zachary Lynn Shelton, on September 20, 1994.

Memorial contributions in memory of Mrs. Hazel Shelton are suggested by her family to the Wheeler Cemetery Perpetual Care Fund with envelopes available at the funeral home or in care of Birmingham-Martin Funeral Home, P.O. Box EE, Dixon, Missouri 65459.