St. Peter Lutheran

Deaconess Shirley Dashkevicz was born July 21, 1971. Her parents, Willard and Darlene Potter of Chicago, IL brought her to be baptized on August 8, 1971, at Hope Lutheran Church, Chicago, IL.

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She began her schooling at Charles Carroll Elementary School in Chicago, IL where she came to appreciate the cultural differences amongst God’s created and value the meaning of family, both her own and those within her community. Her most memorable times in her youth were confirmation classes with Rev. Herbert T Wians on Saturday mornings where her desire to dig into God's Word and serve others really began to blossom and grow. Her high school years were split between Luther High School South in Chicago and Chicago Christian High School in Palos Heights, IL. After spending one year at Concordia College River Forest with a pre-law focus, she entered full-time into the workforce being employed by attorneys in various fields of practice. She moved from the Chicagoland area to Frankenmuth, MI in January 2000.  From 2001 until the time of her divine call in 2023, she worked as Premium Audit Manager for Frankenmuth Insurance.

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An opportunity arose for her to return to college through the distance program at Concordia University in 2014. The distance program allowed her to attend Concordia University Mequon while working full-time and raising her family. She graduated with a BA in Theology in 2019. She then attended Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, IN in their Master of Arts in Diakonal Studies distance program.  She served her internship at her home congregation of St. Lorenz Lutheran Church in Frankenmuth, MI from 2017 to 2022. In May 2022, she graduated from Concordia Theological Seminary with a Master of Arts in Deaconess Studies. On August 20, 2023, Deaconess Shirley was commissioned and installed in her first call to serve as Deaconess and Director of Family Ministry at St. Peter Lutheran Church Hemlock.

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Deaconess Shirley and her husband Ron have five children and one granddaughter. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, sewing, crocheting, baking, and spending time with her family. She is very excited to see the plans that God has in store for her at St. Peter and in the community.