Lomen, Lorraine (Guernsey) 1919 - 2015

LOMEN, GUERNSEY, ALLSHOUSE, VAN HELTEN

Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 1/30/2015 at 15:00:18

Lorraine Lomen, age 95, of Decorah, died Wednesday morning, January 28, 2015, at Aase Haugen Senior Services in Decorah.

Funeral Services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, February 4, 2015 at Springfield Lutheran Church in rural Decorah with Rev. Brad Wysomierski and Rev. Janice M. Rod officiating. Burial will be in Springfield Lutheran Cemetery.

Visitation will begin at 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, one hour before the service, at Springfield Lutheran Church.

Ida Lorraine (Guernsey) Lomen was born on August 19, 1919 to Allen R. and Ida M. (Allshouse) Guernsey on a farm near Ruthven, Iowa. The family moved to Armstrong, Iowa where Lorraine attended a consolidated school and rode in a horse-drawn black bus. They later moved to Corwith, Iowa where Lorraine went to school until her junior year of high school. She graduated from Woden High School in 1937. She attended Waldorf College for one year and graduated from Iowa State College (now University) with a B.S. in Home Economics/Education in 1942.

Lorraine worked as a Home Economist in Keokuk and Winneshiek Counties for the Iowa State Extension Service. She was known for her organizational skills in both counties.

She married Erlin R. Lomen on September 3, 1945 at the Calmar Lutheran Parsonage and became a stepmother to three sons. She and Erlin had three children together: Dale, Nancy and Dorothy.

Lorraine was a member of Springfield Lutheran Church where she was a Bible Study leader, Sunday School superintendent and teacher for many years. She also held offices in the ELCA women’s group. She was a cofounder of the Springfield Mother-Daughter Banquet, which still exists. She helped to make mission quilts in later years. She was a member of the Farm Bureau and was active in the women’s group where she served as the county women’s chairman and was on the group’s Health and Scholarship committees for many years, as well as on the Home Economics Committee for Extension. She was active in the Decorah-Springfield Homemakers and Tops Club No. 852 and was a 4-H leader with the Washington Prairie Peppers through which she judged at achievement shows for a long time.

She enjoyed gardening and sewing when her family was growing up and her interests included letter writing, reading, band music, Iowa State basketball and collecting poems.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Erlin, on October 4, 2001; her stepsons, Donald in 2007, Richard in 2008 and David in 2013; her daughter-in-law, Doris Lomen in 2010; her brothers, Lawrence Guernsey and Robert Guernsey; and her sisters-in-law, Wilda Guersney and Lucille Guernsey.

Lorraine is survived by one son: Dale (Marilyn) Lomen, Cape Coral, FL; two daughters: Nancy Lomen of Decorah, IA and Dorothy (Steven) Van Helten of Waverly, IA; two daughters-in-law: Barb Lomen of Woodstock, IL and Connie Lomen of Tucson, AZ; three grandchildren; six step-grandchildren; nine step-great-grandchildren; eight step-great-great-grandchildren; one nephew, Allen (Carolyn) Guernsey of Winfield, KS; and several great-nieces and -nephews.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to Springfield Lutheran Church Organ Fund, 1969 Middle Calmar Road, Decorah, IA 52101 or Aase Haugen Senior Services, 4 Ohio Street, Decorah, Iowa 52101.

Source: Fjelstul Funeral Home database

Springfield Lutheran Cemetery
 

Winneshiek Obituaries maintained by Bruce Kuennen.
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