Loftis, Mary L. 1943-2007

LOFTIS, COLTEN, SHANKS

Posted By: Mary Holub, volunteer (email)
Date: 3/10/2008 at 08:39:51

Mary L. "Diamond" Loftis, 64, of Le Mars, Iowa, formerly of Sioux City, passed away Monday, Nov. 19, 2007, at Floyd Valley Hospital in Le Mars.

Services will be 12:30 p.m. Friday at Becker-Hunt Funeral Home, with the Rev. Randall Knuth officiating. Burial will be in Coleridge City Cemetery, Coleridge, Neb. Visitation will be 10 a.m. until service time Friday at the funeral home.

Diamond was born Aug. 23, 1943, in Rock Rapids, Iowa, the daughter of Walter and Bessie (Colten) Shanks.

She married Merle R. Loftis on Sept. 30, 1971, in New Orleans, La. The couple lived in New Orleans for a year before moving to Sioux City. They recently moved to Le Mars in 2001.

The couple were members of the Cherokee Ridge Runners. She enjoyed fishing, camping, crocheting and her grandchildren.

Survivors include her husband, Merle; two sons, Jeff and his wife, Sarah White and Rick White, all of Hutchinson, Kan.; five daughters, Teresa and her husband, Sam Driver of Lee's Summit, Mo., Tonja Loftis of Hutchinson, Kan., Bonnie Erickson of St. Genevieve, Mo., Shirley and her husband, Troy Mesenbrink of Sioux City and Loretta and her husband, Rex Kelly of Pleasant Hill, Mo.; a brother, Calvin Shanks of Sioux City; two sisters, Juanita Konegni and Drew DeVall, both of Sioux City; 18 grandchildren; and a great-grandchild.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her twin sister, Mary Lou Pederson; and a granddaughter, Ocean Loftis Bunch.

~Source: The Sioux City Journal, Nov. 21, 2007