Louise Kaufman (Bohlander) Lofstedt (1922-2010)

LOFSTEDT, KAUFMAN, BOHLANDER, MILLER, ACTON, TOMAN, LINN, GALLARDO

Posted By: Ames Tribune
Date: 5/22/2010 at 23:10:38

THE AMES TRIBUNE, Ames, Story County, Iowa, Friday, May 21, 2010.

Louise Kaufman Lofstedt, 88, of Ames and formerly of Grand Junction, beloved, mother and grandmother, died of a respiratory illness Wednesday, May 19, 2010, at Northcrest Retirement Community in Ames, in the presence of her children. Memorial will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, May 22, at First United Methodist Church in Grand Junction. Burial will be at 1 p.m. Saturday in Oakdale Cemetery in Adel.

Louise was born Feb. 4, 1922, to Frank and Anna (Miller) Bohlander, at her family’s farm near Manilla. She had two older brothers and was the youngest of many cousins in two large and close-knit Manilla-area families. Before graduating from Manilla High School, she had the joy of playing basketball in the Iowa Girls Basketball State Tournament and being a member of National Honor Society. Following graduation, she moved to Des Moines to attend American Institute of Business and work as a bookkeeper for St. Paul Casualty Fire and Marine Insurance Company during the World War II years.

In 1946, she married Ivan Kaufman, an Adel farmer and recent veteran of the war in Europe. Three children were born of the happy marriage, Mary Acton, of Des Moines, Carol Toman, of Atherton, Calif., and Wayne Kaufman, of Ames. The couple farmed near Grand Junction for most of their marriage. Besides being a partner in farming with her husband and raising three children, she was active in First United Methodist Church of Grand Junction, a regular at the library, a sports fan, a gardener, a follower of current events and politics, hostess to many card playing friends and relatives, and a financial market investor.

When her husband, Ivan, died suddenly in 1969, she retired from farming and moved with her son, Wayne, to Grand Junction where she served the East Greene Community Schools as school board secretary.

Following seven years of widowhood, when her primary pursuits were raising Wayne and serving the school district, she married Eldon (Shorty) Lofstedt, of Grand Junction, in 1976. Their marriage of 30 years included annual winter snowbird treks to Mesa, Ariz., and summers at the cabin on Big Pelican Lake near Pequot Lakes, Minn. During spring and fall months, they lived in Grand Junction. Their favorite year-around pastime was playing cards with friends.

After Eldon’s death in 2006, she made her home at Northcrest Retirement Community in Ames. Throughout her years, she expressed gratitude for her good health and devoted family. She described her working and childrearing years as well as her retirement years as “great fun.”

She is also preceded in death by her parents and brothers.

She is survived by her children, Mary Acton, Carol (Dave) Toman and Wayne (Debby) Kaufman; grandchildren, Scott Linn, Tim Acton and Sarah Linn Gallardo; and great-grandchild, Matthew Linn.

The family request that any memorial contributions be donated to Grand Junction Public Library.

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