Lillian Christine Loomis
May 28, 1931 - January 25, 2017
Obituary
Lillian Christine (Swenson) Loomis
On May 28th, 1931 – Lillian was born in Fergus Falls, MN to Swedish immigrants Swen Olaf and Nanna Christina Swenson. Mom was the middle child of seven: Hank, Ed, Harold (Swede), Lillian, Margie, Elsa and John.
At age 10, her family moved to WA, settling in Eatonville where her father owned a small shoe and leather repair shop. After high school, she worked a number of sales jobs, then was offered a job as a model. That led to other things, including an early Sea-Fair pamphlet, TV and newspaper ads, Popular Mechanics magazine and the White Stag company.
Between modeling jobs, she worked as a cashier at Sears in Tacoma. While there, she noticed a tall young man working in the garage. When she inquired about his name, word got around, and the guys in the garage bay wouldn’t let Greg Loomis alone until he asked out the pretty cashier. He later claimed that he ‘got his wife at Sears.’
After a 4 year courtship, including 2 years of letters while Greg served in the Navy in Korea and Japan, they eloped in 1954. Three daughters later, in 1960, we moved to the new state of Alaska where, during the stress of the early Cold War era, Lillian asked the Lord into her heart, leading the way for our entire family to accept Christ as our Lord and Savior.
After living in Medford, OR and Helena, MT, we moved to Des Moines, WA in 1972, to be near Mom and Dad’s parents. Mom was active in Child Evangelism Fellowship, and later worked at Des Moines Drug, where she made many friends.
Greg passed away in 2011, and Lillian went ‘home’ to be with him on Wed. Jan. 25th, 2017.
She is survived by her daughters, Deborah, Pamela (Tom) and Karen (Del), her sister Margie, brother John, and her beloved grandchildren Gregory and Rebecca.
The two things that I will remember about Mrs Loomis is her love for the Lord and her love for her family. I know that I will see her again.
My heart is so sad I will miss my aunt lil so much even though she is celebrating in heaven. I loved. Her stories and her excitement for life thank you for the awesome service yesterday it was nice to catch up with everyone
May God be with you and comfort you and the family as you grieve. May He Bless you with wonderful memories of happy family times spent with your mom. Sincere Condolences from old friends who still care. We are very sorry for your loss.
Mike Kerstetter & Debra Collier-Kerstetter