Nordtorp-Madson, Michelle A. "Shelly" Age 67, of Edina, MN, died November 2, 2019. Having battled cancer since 2012, Shelly's health had been declining since June with a sudden and shocking decline the last week of October. She had been teaching art history at the University of St. Thomas since 1993 and even after her retirement in January of 2017, she had hoped to be able to do some guest lectures in the field she loved with such a passion, but her health would not allow it. Shelly loved the contact with her students and followed a great many of "her kids" throughout the years. The joy she received from her interaction with her students may have been her inspiration for becoming a mother rather late in life; or it may have been the earsplitting boom of the biological clock, and as anything else Shelly set her mind to, the result was beautiful! Daughter Kirstine gave Shelly yet another excuse to design and sew outfits, a skill she had acquired during a semester at a clothing design school in Aarhus, Denmark. It was also in Denmark, which Shelly visited in 1973 on a study-abroad trip, that she found her future husband, Lennart, and expanded the "study" to three years. She also took time to attend the University of Aarhus and during that time found the subject for her future doctoral dissertation, an old type of Danish brugskunst (literally "usable art") called hovedvandsæg (a silver smelling salt container used in the 1700-1850 period). Shelly leaves behind a heartbroken daughter (Kirstine) and husband (Lennart Nordtorp Nielsen) as well as a huge fan club of family and friends in both North America and Europe. Guestbook: rememberingshelly.weebly.com/…. Dates and locations for Celebration of Life for Shelly both in Minnesota and in Denmark will also be posted there. In lieu of flowers, please consider a small donation to the Mayo Clinic directed towards Cancer Research.

Published on November 10, 2019