Sheila Marie Donnelly

Sheila Donnelly, died on April 21, 2026, after a battle with recurrent cancer. She was born in Albert Lea, Minnesota, on January 28, 1956, to Robert and Mary Ellen (Callahan) O’ Leary the eighth of eleven children. She attended St. Theodore’s Elementary School and Albert Lea High School, graduating with the class of 1974.

Sheila’s early adventures included traveling to Nicaragua with her sister Mary to see her sister Geraldine, a Maryknoll nun. They were sixteen and seventeen at the time. Shortly after high school, Sheila ventured to Boston, where her siblings, Steve, Kate and John, were working for Catholic Charities. While in Boston, she met Tom Donnelly with whom she moved to Ireland, where they married and had their first child. They eventually moved back to the States and lived on an organic farm near Blooming Prairie. She and Tom were involved with three Food Co-ops and were one of the first farms in the area to be certified organic.

Sheila was proud of the farm and of being a farm girl. She spent many days planting and weeding her large garden, canning, butchering chickens, and tending her two wood-burning stoves. For several years they farmed with horses and also had cows, goats, sheep, chickens, ducks, geese, and pigs — including piglets who once accompanied them to a Grateful Dead concert. Sheila was very sociable, and neighbors would drop in unannounced and stay for hours chatting with her and drinking coffee. Sheila remained proud of the farm throughout her life, and even in her later years, when she lived in California, she was happy to tell someone she had a farm in Minnesota.

Sheila was a member of Holy Trinity Church-Litomysl and was active with St. Isidore’s Catholic School as a cheerleading coach and volunteer. She was involved in a belly dancing troupe, went back to school and obtained multiple degrees, taught cooking classes, and started an herbal lotion business. She spent several years as a columnist for the Ellendale Eagle, Blooming Prairie Times, and Austin Daily Herald, and her columns were well received.

Sheila moved to California in 2009. In California, she was a caretaker, substitute teacher, yoga teacher, and worked at a radio station selling ads. Sheila spent her free time biking, writing, and painting. She was always looking for the next class or career to take on, even in her last months. Sheila was quick to tell you the new side hustle or the next degree she wanted to pursue. Sheila loved meeting new people who she would endlessly entertain with her stories.

Sheila spent her last years in Ellendale, near her farm, where she was cared for by her children, especially her daughter Molly.

Sheila is survived by her six children, Daniel (Mary O’Connor), and their children Thomas, Micah, and Regan; Mary and (Josh Schwab), and their children Jonah, North, and Caleb; Bridget (Greg Bandsma) and their daughter, Hazel; Molly (Alex Beenken); Theresa (Orion Henningsgaard), and their daughters Juniper and Sequoia; and Timothy (Amanda Robertson). Her siblings Patrick O’Leary (Trudy), Joann O’Leary (John Sommerville), Mary O’Leary (Donald Oneglia), Tim O’Leary, brothers-in law Adrian Clift (Mary Newman), Edgar Macias; sisters-in-law Peggy O’Leary, and Judy Ramos. She was preceded in death by her parents Robert and Mary Ellen, siblings Geraldine, John, Dan, Kate, Steve, and Kevin.

Service details are pending. Worlein-Hoff Funeral Homes are assisting the family with arrangements.