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Lois Audrey Suchan
UPPER LAKE, Calif. — Lois came to Upper Lake as a bride in 1948 and passed on March 21, 2023, from the natural cause of living until just 14 days before her 96th birthday.
Nearly her entire family was by her side singing her into heaven with her favorite hymns.
The second of 10 children born to Fount and Ora Salisbury, she was born April 4, 1927, in Ukiah.
She was proud of living into her 90s but sadly outlived all of her beloved siblings and most of her friends.
Lois enjoyed a “Walton-esque” childhood living in Mendocino County with her many brothers and sisters. Although the Salisbury family was very poor, she held many happy memories of her upbringing. She said she loved watching the television show “The Waltons” because it reminded her of her own childhood.
She completed her schooling at the Ukiah elementary and high schools and attended business college in Santa Rosa. (She was very proud that she read all of the books at the Ukiah city library, then located on School Street, during her school years.)
She met Alex at a Grange dance in Ukiah and they danced at Grange dances frequently before and after their marriage in 1948 and as they began to raise their three children.
Lois was the wife of Alex Suchan for 74 years and they still held hands up until a week before her death.
She was mother to three children, Ruth (Michael) Hunter, Mary (Mel) O’Meara, and Stanley (Peggy) Suchan, and said she had wanted more.
One of her favorite things was to be the grandmother to Leah (Marcus) Everson, Matthew (Zorah) Everson, Melinda and Michael Hunter, Justin (Sabra) Suchan, Alexander (Erica) O’Meara, Ryan (Aleisha) O’Meara, Timothy (Alice) O’Meara and Andrew (Kelsi) O’Meara.
The family circle continued to widen to include great-grandchildren, Chelsea (Sean) Foley, Sadari Scott, Ella and Zinnia Everson, Calvin, Iris and Nora O’Meara, and Everly and Brecken O’Meara and great-great-grandchildren Kenzie, Kylee and Chase Foley completed the circle.
(We will always be your fweetie-hearts and polywogs.)
A great source of pride to Lois was that she helped raise the grandkids.
She clearly remembered singing the hymn “God Will Take Care of You” to all of them as she held them in her arms over the years. Among other things they learned to bake at her side. Andrew has gone on to create culinary dishes for a living, crediting his grandmother for being an inspiration.
Lois worked side by side with her husband as he transitioned from working with dairy cattle and at lumber mills to walnut ranching and then establishing their walnut nursery. She much preferred working outside to housework, although she did enjoy creating meals fresh from her garden, from the canned fruits that she and her sister, Leta, had put up during the summers, and using deer meat or homegrown pork from the freezer. She read voraciously when she had a break from the hard work outside.
She worked outside the home also. For a time, she did housekeeping for seniors in the community. She took the most pride in her job maintaining the yard at her beloved church for 30 years, the Upper Lake Community United Methodist Church. She loved her roses, holly hocks and irises.
She was a longtime member of the Take Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS) group that met at the church on Tuesday evenings and made many friends there. She was proud to be the weight recorder for many years.
She sang in and directed the church choir and taught Sunday school when her children were young. She donated some of the stained glass for the church windows in honor of her parents and brothers and sisters.
She enjoyed being a 4-H cooking teacher when her children were involved and a counselor at several Methodist Church youth camps. She sang duets for the church and many weddings and funerals of community members.
She was beloved.
Goodnight Lois. Goodnight Mom. Goodnight Grandma. Goodnight Great-Grandma. Goodnight Great-Great Grandma.
Memorial Service will be held Easter Sunday, April 9, at 1:30 p.m. at the Upper Lake Community United Methodist Church.
Donations in her memory can be made to the Upper Lake Community Methodist Church, P.O. Box 276, Upper Lake, CA 95485.
The family wishes to thank Hospice for their care and Chapel of the Lakes Mortuary for their service.
Arrangements by Chapel of the Lakes Mortuary, 707-263-0357 or 707-994-5611, or visit www.chapelofthelakes.com.
