Lois Evelyn Blumthal

Lois Evelyn Ludemann Blumthal May 1, 1918 – December 31, 2013 Lois Ludemann Blumthal died peacefully on December 31, 2013, at home in Richfield, Minnesota, with family members at her side. Lois began her life of adventure and service to others in Cleves, Iowa, a community of farms and small businesses, the second of three children of Jans Johann Ludemann and Befke (Bessie) Hinrichs Ludemann. She started school at the one-room schoolhouse north of Cleves and graduated at age 16 from Ackley High School, where she played on the girls’ basketball team. She enrolled at the University of Dubuque, but returned home after her mother’s death in 1936 to care for her father and younger brother, John. Completing her degree in Foods and Nutrition at Iowa State College in 1939, Lois started work as a dietitian with an internship at an Oakland, California, hospital. She was working at Stanford University Hospital in San Francisco in 1941 when her sister Naomi asked Lois to come to Hawaii to be maid of honor at her wedding. Lois stayed in Hawaii after the wedding and was working at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu when Pearl Harbor was attacked in December of 1941. She and her sister Naomi, a nurse, both cared for casualties after the attack. Lois returned to the mainland in 1942 after receiving word that her father was in failing health. In 1943 she was commissioned as a 1st Lieutenant in the Army and served as a dietitian, first at Schick General Hospital in Clinton, Iowa, and then with the 187th General Hospital unit in England from before D-Day until after VE Day. In early 1946, after her service in the Army, she returned to Wellsburg, Iowa, but only briefly. In April of that year she married John “Jack” Blumthal, an American infantry officer she had met in England, and moved with him to the Chicago area where they raised a family of five children in Elmhurst, Illinois. Lois put her Army and hospital dietician skills to use as an efficient household manager for her family, but also applied her artistic talents to creating costumes for parades, parties and Halloween, sewing clothes for herself and her daughters, and singing the children to sleep each night while playing the piano. She also passed along to her children her love of the outdoors and of travel. She was an active volunteer in the schools and at elections while her children were young, returning to work when the youngest no longer came home from school for lunch. When Jack died in 1980, Lois retired from her job as dietitian and general manager of the cafeteria at 4000-student York High School and dedicated herself to additional volunteer work, including demonstrating traditional spinning and weaving at historic Graue Mill. In 1987 Lois moved to Ocean Ridge, Florida, where she enjoyed the warm weather, daily beachcombing walks and swimming in the ocean. She served her new community volunteering in her church resale shop, delivering Meals on Wheels and monitoring sea turtle nests on the beach. She also travelled and attended elderhostels, continuing to feed her curiosity about people and the natural world. With none of her children nearby, Lois became especially close to her niece Linda Ludemann during her time in Florida. Lois moved to Richfield, Minnesota, in 2005, to be near her daughter Margie. She had an apartment at The Pines senior living community and continued her active life with walks in the local nature preserve and visits to her favorite Minnehaha Falls. The support of family, staff and caregivers, organized by Margie, allowed Lois to maintain her independence during her last years, even as her mobility diminished. Lois is survived by her sister, Naomi Ludemann Fixter; children Marjorie Blumthal Kostouros (John), John Blumthal (Connie), William Blumthal (Jean), Thomas Blumthal and Janet Blumthal Gassman; grandchildren Aleka, Mikis, Steve, Amy, Chris, William, Emily, John, Jennifer, Bryan, Matthew, and Michael, and 10 great-grandchildren. The family suggests donations in Lois’s memory to the National Parks Foundation, St. Croix Hospice or Disabled American Veterans. A memorial service will be held at 11:00am on Saturday, April 12, at the First Congregational Church in Elmhurst, Illinois. www.Washburn-McReavy.com Davies Chapel 612-377-2203

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Lois Evelyn Blumthal

December 31, 2013

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