Obituary of Deloris Jean Majersky

Deloris Jean (Matter) Majersky, of Hopkins, MN, passed away on December 31, 2023 at the age of 83 after an eight year journey with a head injury and congestive heart failure.

Deloris was born in Wadena, MN on September 20, 1940. The oldest of five children. She grew up on a farm and attended a one-room school house. She enjoyed school and participated in 4H while in middle school. In high school her focus turned towards spending more time in town with friends and working at the Wadena hospital. Her favorite subject in school was art where she painted the first of a number of paintings she created during her life. Her early life experience of self-sufficiency through growing up on a farm formed many values she carried with her throughout her life.

After graduating high school Deloris entered a specialized nursing program offered by the State of Minnesota to become an LPN with a focus in psychiatric care. Eventually, she shifted to geriatric care where she worked for over 30 years.

During confirmation Deloris recognized her budding pluralistic values and became a spiritual seeker and life-long learner as an adult. She was a prolific reader and amassed a collection of hundreds of books which allowed her to travel through time to anywhere in the world and study the major religions. It was there that she saw her values reflected and discovered her voice. She moved to California in the late 1970’s to live in a spiritual community where she developed a number of life-long friendships with like-minded people.

After moving back to Minnesota she continued her spiritual explorations at St. Paul’s Lutheran church and Bet Shalom synagogue and by watching documentaries, surfing the internet, studying with Shepherd’s Chapel, participating in a progressive Christianity group as well as groups focusing on other religions, and taking several trips to Israel, Poland and Ukraine. Some of her most fascinating collages are inspired by her spiritual explorations.

After retiring from nursing Deloris spent her time volunteering with organizations focusing on mental health, a food shelf and teaching people English as a second language.

In 2016 Deloris suffered a head injury due to a car accident. The effects which continued to worsen over the ensuing months included sensitivity to sound, auditory processing difficulties, lack of taste and smell, and inability to use her eyes for the fine detail of reading and crocheting. While she experienced some improvement over time, it was slow, and she never recovered to her satisfaction. Her life was permanently altered. She did however, find other ways to pursue her interests through TedTalks, coloring, doing sudoku, assembling large-piece jigsaw puzzles and sharing meals with people in her senior community.

Deloris is survived by daughters, Linda Matter, and Wendy (Andrei) Sivanich; grand-daughters, Katherine Sivanich, and Margaret Sivanich; brother, Darwin Matter; brother-in-law, David Burrows Sr.; and many relatives and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents, Leonard and Velma Matter of Wadena, MN; sister and brother-in-law, Karen (Jerry) Borchardt; sister, Louise Burrows; sister-in-law, Gail Matter; and her brother, Perry Matter.

To honor her life a memorial service will be held February 24 at 12:00 PM at the Cremation Society of Minnesota, 7110 France Ave S, Edina. Visitation and a viewing of her art will be at the funeral home one hour prior to the service with a reception to follow.

Internment will be at Oak Hill Cemetery in Minneapolis, MN and Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Hewitt, MN where many family members are buried.

Memorials, if desired, may be directed to either the Minnesota Brain Injury Alliance or Puzzler’s Exchange, or by planting a tree.

Deloris loved listening to birds singing in the trees and would often comment on it. Her appreciation for this began while attending the one-room school house when her teacher would take the class outside to teach under the trees and this experience remained with her throughout her life.