Michelle Julia Gunnerson

Memorial service for Michelle Julia “Shell” Gunnerson will be 1 p.m., Fri., March 28 at the MMS-Payne Funeral Home Chapel.

Shell passed away Tues., March 18, 2014, in Phoenix, AZ, at the age of 35.

Michelle was the daughter Daniel Gunnerson and Tina (Edwards) Bland and was born Oct. 6, 1978, in Hawian Gardens, CA. At the age of 13 the family moved to Oklahoma. Shell attended Claremore High School and graduated from Thunderbird Youth Academy in 1997. She then went on to serve as a soldier in the U.S. Army. While living in Oologah she worked at Redbud Bay Marina. She later moved to California and was currently living in Phoenix. Shell loved nature; every critter and living thing had a place in her heart. She was also a talented artist, played the guitar and wrote poetry.

Shell is survived by her mother and step-father, Tina and Charles Bland of Claremore; father, Dan Gunnerson of Phoenix, AZ; sister, Crystle Gomez and husband, Eric of Owasso; nieces: Carrissa Zavala-Gomez of Norman, Mojave Gomez of Owasso, and Sevier Gomez of Owasso; Grandmother, Mary Dragonas of Claremore; Grandfather, Thayle Edwards of Cypress, CA; Grandmother, Zola Jacobs of Phoenix, AZ; Grandfather, Eldon Gunnerson of Dobbins, CA; and many aunts, uncles, and cousins in Ohio, California, and Arizona.