Debora "Debbie" Niederriter

Debbie Shenk Niederriter passed away surrounded by family at her home in Saint Peter on December 24 after a seven year battle with multiple myeloma. 

Debbie was born to Richard and Mildred Shenk on August 29, 1957 in Erie, Pennsylvania. In high school she excelled in athletics, competing in swimming and track and field, and loved watching sports with her dad on the weekends. She loved her family’s pet dog and she spent summers biking around to friends’ houses, babysitting neighborhood kids, and swimming in Lake Erie. She attended Gannon University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Physics and met her future husband, Chuck. During her college years, she was involved in several research projects and enjoyed singing in the Wayside Presbyterian Church choir. She went on to earn a Master’s in Physics from Ohio University in Athens, where she met some very good friends from all over the world. 

In 1985, she moved to Saint Peter, Minnesota with her husband Chuck and first son, Brad. She taught physics at Gustavus Adolphus College for 2 years before taking a break from teaching to raise her second son, Rob. She was a dedicated and loving mother who spent the rest of her life working jobs that allowed her to spend the most time with her children. She worked stints throughout her life as a teller at Nicollet County Bank, ran a daycare out of her house, and most recently worked as a paraprofessional with special need children at North Elementary. Debbie was an active member of Union Presbyterian Church where she was on the Session and headed the Christian Education committee. She was engaged in all areas of her children’s life, including coaching children’s soccer and LEGO robotics teams, cheering on children at football and basketball games, and attending plays and concerts. This work extended into helping with the formation of Saint Peter Area Robotics Association and coaching FTC and supporting FRC.

Debbie was an avid reader and she loved to craft. Every Christmas she had a new handmade craft to give out to all her friends and family. She completed the daily puzzles in the newspaper every morning and loved to watch Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune until her last day.

Debbie and her family enjoyed traveling all over the world. She and her family spent many summers road tripping around the country to state parks and to visit family. These road trips were filled with delicious food she had prepared, family favorite music, and lots of card games, especially cribbage. Debbie enjoyed travelling internationally beginning with a trip to England with her parents when she was in high school. She and Chuck led study away courses in New Zealand and Australia six times when she was “mom” to 30 to 40 Gustavus students on top of taking care of her own children and helping teach astronomy of the southern skies. They enjoyed touring Europe with daughter, Gretchen, and visiting with graduate school friends in Germany and Switzerland. 

She is survived by her husband Charles, her children Bradley, Robert (So Young), Joseph (Emily), Timothy, and Gretchen (Rishi) and her sisters Barbara McGill (Danton) and Sandra Godfrey (Douglas). Debbie was preceded in death by parents, Mildred and Richard Shenk.

Debbie’s family wants to extend their extreme gratitude to all of the nurses and doctors in Saint Peter, Mankato, and Rochester, especially the wonderful staff of the Andreas Cancer Center.

A celebration of Debbie’s life will be held on Saturday, January 4, at 11:00 am at Union Presbyterian Church. Visitation will be held from 4-7pm on Friday, January 3 at the Saint Peter Funeral Home and 10am Saturday at the church. In lieu of flowers, Debbie’s family prefers gifts to the American Cancer Society or the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

The live stream link below is a complimentary service provided by Mankato Area Funeral Homes.

Unforeseen technical, internet, facility, and/or acoustical circumstances may produce a diminished end product. Please note, if the live stream does not appear, we are attempting to record and publish the service for later viewing.