Shirley Rae Fasender

MADISON - Shirley R. Fasbender (nee Vargason), age 69, passed away early in the morning on Sunday, April 19, 2026, at home in Madison, Wisconsin with her children at her side.

Shirley was born on August 29, 1956, to Roy and Joyce (Franzenburg) Vargason, the seventh of what would eventually be eleven siblings. She grew up in Keystone, Iowa and had endless stories of what it was like living in a small town and the adventures of her and her family. After graduating high school, she had the opportunity to attend the University of Iowa, an experience which was foundational for the rest of her life. Title IX was coming into effect at the time and Shirley walked on for the start-up Hawkeye Women’s Basketball team and played from 1975-78 as a point guard, even being co-captain of the team one year. She was the first player to wear #22, which was later held (and eventually retired) by basketball phenom Caitlin Clark... though Shirley liked to point out it was the person wearing the jersey and not the number on it that made the player. Still, Shirley was no slouch herself, leading the Hawkeyes in assists for the 1975 and 1976 seasons.

After receiving her Bachelor of Science degree in 1978 from University of Iowa Shirley took a job as a high school gym teacher in Saint Charles, Illinois, the town where she would live much of her adult life. Diving into coaching girls’ basketball and volleyball, she took a team to the state championships for the latter. It was at a party thrown by one of her fellow coaches that Shirley met David “Dave” Fasbender. The two fell in love when he helped renovate her first house DIY (it had been damaged by a fire), and they married in 1985. She had two children before the decade was out, Andrew and Katherine “Kate,” and left her job at Saint Charles High School to take care of them during their infant years. After the kids entered grade school Shirley returned to working as a gym teacher at Nathan Hale Elementary in Schaumburg, Illinois. As she came of age Kate took after her mother in athletics, and Shirley served as coach for several of her daughter’s soccer, basketball and volleyball teams.

A very family-oriented person, Shirley made at least two trips back to Iowa each year to visit relatives along with taking her own family on regular vacations to other locales. For many years she, Dave and the kids would spend a week on Sanibel Island in Florida enjoying the ocean and combing the beach for shells. Later the family would spend two weeks every summer at the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park, Colorado, always staying in the “Hyde Out” cabin and hiking adjacent Rocky Mountain National Park. Shirley had a great appreciation for nature, saying going to the mountains was her “church.” Later in life she would visit Andrew in Montana at least once (often twice) each year to get her mountain fix, insisting on exploring at least one new trail each trip. After moving to Madison, Wisconsin in 2019 Shirley would take a walk around Stricker and Tiedeman Ponds each day to see what wildlife was around. Sandhill cranes were one of her favorite inhabitants, and she especially loved to watch them raise their chicks each year.

Naturally curious, Shirley loved talking with people, even just the stranger sitting next to her on a plane ride. Andrew and Kate’s friends often joked about being subjected to “twenty questions” by their mother when visiting the house, because she liked to learn people’s stories. An excellent conversationalist, she was attentive to what others said and never made the conversation about herself. Shirley was also generous, frequently going out of her way to help friends and family, and would not hesitate to jump in the car to help someone close to her when they were in need.

Shirley is survived by her husband, Dave; children, Andrew Fasbender of Lolo, Montana and Kate Fasbender (Chris Schroeder) of Den Bosch, Netherlands; grandchildren, Charlotte and Henry Schroeder; ten siblings, Judy (Charley Stark), Barb, Linda, Deanna (Frank Sup), Carol (Mike Brom), Gloria (Dave Kray), Roy, Steve (Marsha Danker), Patty (Jan Wiltgen) and Vicki (Jim Doyle); and enough nieces, nephews and friends to fill a phone book. She was preceded in death by her parents.

Shirley squeezed every last drop out of life, going on car rides to Taliesin, Devil’s Lake and to watch the muskies at Wingra dam over the past several weeks while in hospice. She was smiling and talking with her children and grandchildren only six hours before she passed, and will be missed greatly by them and everyone who knew her.

Shirley did not desire a funeral (“If they want to celebrate my life they should do it while I’m alive!”), but those wishing to come together and remember her can join Kate at the OLBRICH BOTANICAL GARDENS, 3330 Atwood Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin, from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m. on Thursday, April 30, 2026.

In lieu of flowers (there are already plenty at the Botanical Gardens) donations may be made to the University of Iowa Forevermore Scholarship (<https://www.foriowa.org/iowa-stories/iowa-story.php?namer=true&isid=36>) to give students without financial resources the kind of support Shirley received in her own higher education.

We all loved you Shirley, and will see you on the other side.

Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com.

Gunderson West

Funeral & Cremation Care

7435 University Ave.

(608) 831-6761