Vanda Jo Shelor

Vanda Jo Shelor, 89, of Dayton, Ohio passed away, peacefully, Wednesday, January 14, 2026, into the arms of Jesus, surrounded by her loving family.

Born June 12, 1936 in Hyden, Kentucky. Vanda Jo, or Grandma Jo (as she was called by the grandkids) dedicated her life to create a warm and nurturing home for her husband of fifty four years, Albert (Al) Shelor (deceased) and their three children, David Shelor (deceased), Susan (Wayne) Essex and Elizabeth (Greg) Bergman.

Vanda’s greatest joy came from spending time with her family and fostering a loving and sometimes a funny sarcastic home environment. Vanda always made you feel like she had been waiting to see you all day and now that you were at her house, her day was complete.

Vanda, as a child, wanted to be a movie star. She would dance and sing around the house. She was married, at seventeen, to her leading man. Vanda may not have become a movie star but she married a man that looked like the movie star Errol Flynn.

Vanda and Al built a new home in 1955. She lived in that house for seventy years, until her passing.

She is survived by her brother, Reed (Linda) Morgan, her two children, Susan and Elizabeth and six grandchildren: Sara, Michael, Morgan, Stephanie, Sara Schwartz, and Amanda and her fifteen great grandchildren: Blake, Ezra, Quinn, Georgia, Ryan, Lukas, Rylie, Lucy, Jaxon, Aliyah, Adelina, Liam, Brenden, Lorelei, David, and many other nieces, nephews, relatives and friends (especially next door neighbors, Mike and Sheila Reed, who helped watch over Vanda the last few years of her life).

A celebration of Vanda’s life will be held on Saturday, January 24, 2026 at Cornerstone Baptist Temple, 1707 Ohmer Avenue, Dayton, Ohio. The family will receive friends from 10am to noon with the funeral following, officiated by Pastor Jerry Siler. She will be interred, next to her husband, at Glenn Haven Cemetery in New Carlisle. A lunch will be served back at the church following the burial.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the American Cancer Society. (Vanda was a cancer survivor.) 

To share a memory of Vanda or to leave a special message for her family, please sign the online guestbook provided.