Shelly Rae (Simmons) Zajic, age 58, of Astoria, passed away on Saturday, Dec. 23, 2023, at home under hospice care.  
Visitations will be from 4:30-7:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 5, at Eidsness Funeral Home in Brookings.  A celebration of Shelly’s life will be at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 6, also at Eidsness Funeral Home.  
Shelly Rae (Simmons) Zajic was born on May 7, 1965, at the Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming, to Roger and Dorothy (Cooper) Simmons.  When Shelly was 2 years old, the family relocated to South Dakota and started farming Southeast of White.  She was the oldest of five children, with Lee, April, Casey, and Josh, soon joining the family. In her younger years, Shelly helped care for her younger siblings.  
Upon graduating from Deubrook School, Shelly went on to attend Killian College for Medical Transcript Secretary training. After college, she worked various jobs including Mike’s Café in Marshall, MN, Country Kitchen and the Bowling Alley in Brookings, SD, Fey Industries Inc. in Edgerton, MN, Twin City Fan in Elkton and Brookings, SD, truck driving with Duane, SDSU from 2009 until 2013 in Brookings, and working from home doing customer service receptionist work for various companies until the time of her passing. Shelly was united in marriage to Allen Belling, Dick Lulf, Duane Goettig, and John Zajic.  She married John Zajic on March 15, 2014, in Tyler, MN.  
Shelly was a member of Holy Life Tabernacle in Brookings. She enjoyed working on jigsaw puzzles, reading Stephen King books, cross stitching, and playing computer games.  She especially enjoyed helping her husband John on the computer, as she was a whiz at it.  
Shelly is survived by her husband, John; daughters: Joanna Pate and Kristen Edmonds; son, Jarid Zajic, father, Roger Simmons; sister April (Dave) Jewell; brothers: Casey and Josh (Flavia); nieces: Pheobe and Kaiya; grandchildren: Keith, Haylee, Talon, Felicity, Brayden, and Jaxson; close friend Shannon Abel; life-long friend and roommate Brian Smidt, who helped with Shelly’s care when John was away, and her many cousins and friends.
She is preceded in death by her ex-husband Duane Goettig in 2011; stepson Kevin in 2019; her brother Lee in 2017; her mother, Dorothy, in 2021; her son-in-law Patrick in 2022 and her favorite dog, Peanut, in 2023.