As a youngster, Lola would often stand in the cow pasture and exchange waves with the engineer and conductor as the Santa Fe freight train rolled by on the tracks running between the school and the farm. At other times, she and her double-cousin, Adeline Mills, née Hiebert, from "across the section" could be found romping through the fields or playing in the creek that ran through the area. Her brother Clifford spent many hours of pleasure with them and many other cousins, as well, between chores times on the farm.

When Lola was twelve, her family moved to the town of Warden, in the Columbia Basin of central Washington, where father Sam took up irrigation farming.

While in high school, Lola was...

• Senior Class Treasurer
• Member of the Warden chapter of Honor Society
• Mary, wife of Leonard in ''Death of a Hired Man,'' winner of the
  Eastern Washington State College drama contest
• Choir member in her junior and senior years, and also at
• Girls' State, besides singing
• Second Soprano in the All Northwest Music Festival choir in
  Spokane, consisting of 550 voices from five western states.

Lola loved to sing, so was always active in church choirs as the family moved from
place to place over the years.

Graduating from Warden High School on May 22, 1961, having sewn her own wedding gown, she married George on June 3, 1961. Thus began a 64-year sojourn though life together.

At various times Lola served in clerical capacities for agencies from the U.S. Forest Service to insurance companies, university registrar's office, school librarian, as mailroom manager for the Fort Wayne Children's Home and as a church executive secretary before becoming a vital cog in the family business as George transitioned from school teacher and administrator to printer/publisher.

In 1972, the role of motherhood materialized...

Lola taught daughter Sandra about Jesus and how to read before she was in preschool. That headstart gave Sandra advantage into her life career!

While George was a school headmaster, Lola served as a teacher's assistant in the school's primary department.

She also taught Sunday School classes for church youth, following her mother's example.

Deeply passionate about natural health, "Dr." Lola became sought after by others for her expertise. Her servant's heart led her to assist a number of home-bound elderly folks as their caregiver in later years. She also loved nature and often had grass-stained clothes (but weed-free garden patches and delicious produce) as a result.