VANDENBRAND, Lorraine M. 1929-1999

VANDENBRAND, BUCKINGHAM, LAUDNER

Posted By: County Coordinator
Date: 2/21/2011 at 19:51:23

LORRAINE M. VANDENBRAND

ROCKFORD - Lorraine M. VandenBrand, 71, of 211 Seventh St. N.E., died Thursday (Dec. 16, 1999) at Muse Norris Hospice Inpatient Unit, surrounded by her loving family.

Memorial services celebrating Lorraine's life will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at Rockford United Methodist Church. Officiating will be the Rev. Rosemary Rohde-Frank. Inurment was held at Riverside Cemetery in Rockford.

A gathering of friends and family will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday at Fullerton-Schumburg Funeral Home, Rockford.

Lorraine was born on June 18, 1928, in Marble Rock, one of 11 children, to Joney and Ruby (Buckingham) Laudner. At a very early age the family moved to Rockford, where she graduated from high school in 1945. She then attended normal training for teachers.

She helped her brother in the restaurant business and then continued working for other restaurants. She also was employed at the hatchery.

On Sept. 27, 1947, she was united in marriage to Louis VandenBrand in Kansas City, Missouri.

Lorraine's commitment to her church included her lifelong membership, taking an active role in the offices of the church circle, the UMW, and serving on the memorials committee and as financial secretary of the church.

In her earlier years she was an accomplished golfer, often winning the women's golf tournaments at the Rockford Country Club. She enjoyed cards, especially bridge. She belonged to the American Legion Auxiliary. Lorraine was an avid fan of the Iowa Hawkeyes, the 49ers and the Yankees.

She was often seen at the local library getting mystery novels and gardening in her vegetable and flower garden. She was always anxious to be the first to give away her sweet corn and many people will remember her for her famous popcorn balls. She enjoyed feeding her cardinal friends and keeping away the black birds.

Each Christmas she was never satisfied with her Christmas tree and spent time rearranging it until it was time to take it down. She didn't do many things by the book until the end of her life, and it is difficult to sum up what she meant to so many people, but the joyful memories will remain forever.

Lorraine touched so many, including her daughter, Sheryl Jackson, Mason City; her two granddaughters, Andrea and Sara Jackson, both of Des Moines; five sisters, Lois and her husband, Charles Schulz, Glendale, Ariz., Wava Uker, Sheffield, Maxine and her husband, Roger Fullerton, Rockford, Sandra and her husband, George West, Palm City, Fla. and Dianne Massee, Rockford, Ill.; four brothers, Delbert and his wife, Mary Lou Laudner, El Cajon, Calif., Ronald and his wife, Mary Ellen Laudner, Rockford, Marvin Pete and his wife, Eileen Laudner, Maple Grove, Minn., and Larry and his wife, Mary Laudner, Chula Vista, Calif.; 30 nieces and nephews; and many special friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband in July of 1990; her son-in-law, Daryl Jackson; and her brother, Dallas Laudner.

Fullerton Funeral Home - (515) 756 3311

[Globe Gazette, 12/18/1999]