Our mother, Lorene W. Edmondson, went to Heaven on March 11, 2023, at age 92. She was an amazing person who taught us about faith, family, friendship, and loyalty. She liked to side with the underdog in almost any situation. She gave love without measure, encouragement, and wisdom. There were times that it seemed as if her spirit was broken, but she would bounce back in Christ’s love, and in the love of her family that she cherished.

She was a gifted artist who painted landscapes, flowers, and her “best” painting (according to her eldest daughter) was a painting of Mary, the mother of Jesus. It depicted her face when an angel spoke to her to tell her she would have a child by the Holy Spirit, and she was to call him Jesus. The awe and surprise was captured perfectly on Mary’s face. To add to the greatness of the painting, our grandmother (mom’s mother) wrote a poem using the scripture that described the event in Luke 1:26-38.

The painting and poem were used to create a family Christmas card, and the following year mom painted a picture of Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John the Baptist - another miracle birth. (Luke 1:36-41) Grandma wrote another poem to accompany the painting and that birthed Christmas card #2. They were making plans for a third one when Grandma went to Heaven. Faith has always been a part of our family, and music runs it a close second! Our family uses song lyrics for everything!

Mom did everything to the best of her ability, and she was a perfectionist. For example, if we needed research done on a medical condition, she would gather as much information as she could and then present it to us. She just didn’t give up - so that could lead to some hearty disagreements with her daughters, but she would back down if we presented a good argument - and truth had to prevail. She insisted on “knowing the truth.” She was incredibly intelligent and lived a life full of integrity.

She had perseverance and tenacity. One time, her eldest daughter asked her if she thought she could glue an angel’s face back together. It was a beautiful tree topper who’s face had been shattered. Mom was ready to give it a try, and she stayed up all night, gluing the face back together! Some pieces were quite tiny and she had to use tweezers to hold them in place. Incredibly, only one piece was missing! That angel will remain in our family forever!

Mom received an AA Degree from College of the Redwoods in 1972, a BA from Humboldt State University in 1974, and a Masters Degree in Marriage and Family Counseling from the University of San Francisco in 1976.

Mom was a cancer survivor and later took cancer patients to their appointments. She faithfully went to the Senior Resource Center exercise class for about 15 years - often taking a 90 year old friend with her! Mom was always “up” for adventures with us - whether going to the beach, or just taking a ride. She loved to collect pine cones and sticks that could be used to start fires, and we had a lot of laughs pulling over along the road to do just that. She and our father (her ex-husband) would go out to eat together - with or without us. As long as she was with any of us, she was happy.

She grew beautiful roses and was known for her flower arrangements - even preparing them for our trips to Sacramento to share with family, packed carefully in a cooler. For a few years, she worked as a receptionist for I. Leonard Agnew DDS, and she would bring arrangements into the office that took her all day Sunday to create! The staff and patients loved them!

She worked at Fairhurst Lumber Company, in Eureka, (corner of 7th & J), as a receptionist, and later in life as a receptionist at the old General Hospital. She was a volunteer at Humboldt Women for Shelter, and lastly, she retired from the County of Humboldt, Medi-Cal Dept. Her favorite position was at Dr. Agnew’s office where it felt more like being with her second family!

She is survived by her two daughters, Andrea Ekker and Sharon Edmondson (Steve Littlefield), grandsons Brian Ekker (wife Chelsea, great-grandson Hondo) of Willow Creek, and Michael Moehnke, of Eureka. She is also survived by her sister and brother-in-law, Linda and Mike Hargan of Elk Grove, sister-in-law Madeline (Lynn) Gray of Sacramento, and numerous nieces and nephews - all of which were greatly loved!

She was predeceased by her ex-husband and lifelong friend, William (Bill) Edmondson, infant daughter, Karen Edmondson, brother Joe Gray, sister Zula Blum, and parents Sidney and Maggie Gray.

We would like to thank Dr. Donald Iverson, and the staff at Renaissance/Timber Ridge Eureka for the wonderful care they gave to mom. A special thank you to Tiffany, Cynthia, Mariah, Ella, Ariel, Colleen, Thomas, Brian, Tammy, Elizabeth - all of you! (I’m sorry if I forgot any names here, for you each contributed so much!) Thank you! No services were held and we are confident that we’ll see her in Heaven!

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