Shirley Thiessen

Twelve days after her son's wedding, Shirley Thiessen was thrown into the unimaginable task of planning his funeral. Grief threatened to extinguish her purpose for living. Gradually, hope and resiliency emerged as Shirley learned to recycle the pain of loss for good purposes. Inspired by these “Hope Heroes” who walked with her, Shirley wrote the book, The Little Black Funeral Dress: Five Things I Wish I Had Known About Grief to pay it forward. Identifying the need for more grief education particularly in faith communities, Shirley became founder of Corner Bend Grief Ministries in 2019. Her passion is to inspire others to be Hope Heroes so that every grieving soul will experience God’s love and find courage to recycle their pain for his glory.