Sally Elizabeth Conner

Sally Elizabeth (Shull) Conner, 99, passed away on June 6, 2022 at Bickford Senior Living in Sioux City.   A private service for the family will be held at a later date.  Meyer Brothers Colonial Chapel is assisting the family.  In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to First United Methodist Church, 1915 Nebraska Street, Sioux City, Iowa 51104, or the charity of anyone’s preference.

Sally was born on August 2, 1922 to Marguerite Clare (Knapp) Shull and DeLoss Perkins Shull.  She graduated from Central High School in 1940, attended McMurray College in Jacksonville, Illinois, then transferred to Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, graduating with honors in 1945.  Sally was a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority.  She worked for the school system in San Mateo, California before returning to Sioux City, where she was employed as a psychometrist by the Sioux City Board of Education doing intelligence testing of problem children referred by their teachers.

Sally was married February 18^th 1950 to R. Dudley Conner and became a homemaker, raising two sons, William “Bill” and John.  After several years, her husband’s career was transferred to Denver, where their family moved, and where their daughter Susan was born.  Several years later, they returned, again, to Sioux City where her husband became President of Knapp and Spencer Wholesale Hardware Co., which was founded in 1868 by Sally’s grandfather, C.A. Knapp.  Upon retirement in 1983, Sally and her husband became winter residents of Fort Myers, Florida for 19 years, spending summers at Okoboji, Iowa, before returning to Sioux City in 2002. 

When young, Sally enjoyed spending summers, with her family, at Spirit Lake, Iowa, and later after marriage, at Okoboji, Iowa.  She was a lifelong member of First United Methodist Church, a former member of both the Sioux City Junior League and the American Association of University Women, and a sustaining member of Portfolio Book Club.  She enjoyed reading, especially science, inspirational materials, biographies, and history.  Sally enjoyed time spent with her family, and also enjoyed activities including Life Long Learning classes at Western Iowa Tech.

Sally is survived by her three children, William D. Conner (Resea Arps) of Sioux City, John S. Conner (Mary) of Kansas City, and Susan E. Conner of Sioux City; five grandchildren, Robin Andersen (Jacob), Jillian Lewis (Andrew), Casey Coleman (Jordan), Johnny Conner, and Maggie Conner; five great-grandchildren, Eleanor “Nora” Andersen, William “Liam” Andersen, Chloe Coleman, Quincy Coleman, and Elliot Coleman; a sister, Jody Shull Phillips; a sister-in-law, Carolyn Corbett Shull; two nieces and four nephews.

Sally was preceded in death by her parents; her husband Dudley (12/6/2011); her brother D. Carlton Shull; her daughter-in-law Susan E. (Marks) Conner; her sister-in-law, Betty Conner; and her nephews, Andrew Shull and Dudley Coleman Conner.