She was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama where she was a dedicated and honored student at Woodlawn High( 1941-44), participating in Glee Club, Photography Club, and was elected Honor Society president (1943) and secretary of the National Honor Society(1944), Eucleidian Honor Society and senior class Historian for the Senior Banquet.
At Howard College of Alabama ( later named Samford University) she excelled in math and planned on a teaching career when the economic strain of WWII created a hardship for her family resulting in her having to suspend her college education. She became a bookkeeper for Piper’s Ice Cream Company.
The war ended and Lois met a contractor/builder who was working on a project at the ice cream company. A year later she married, Lloyd, a WWII veteran and they started their married life in his native hometown of Huntersville.
As she raised her family, she used her leadership skills and spirit of generosity by volunteering as a Cub Scout leader and Girl Scout leader, Sunday School teacher and choir member at Eastway Baptist Church in Charlotte and she was an American Heart Association fundraising “captain “ for her community.
Her love of the outdoors led her to become camp counselor supervisor at Lake Haven Ranch Camp (summers 1959 & 60) where she, along with her children, enjoyed horseback riding, swimming and arts and crafts. Later, she supported her daughter’s enjoyment of horsemanship by taking a management position in the equestrian department at Lebo’s in Charlotte. Other employment all centered on her skills in mathematics... bookkeeper, accountant, and CMS math substitute teacher.
Because Lois loved to travel, she organized numerous family trips crisscrossing the United States, including trips to the beach, the NY World’s Fair and several trips to Disney World.
Her enjoyment of the outdoors motivated her to seek her ultimate dream home on a lake. She took great pride in designing the home and Lloyd fulfilled his dream of building their home on Lake Norman. She spent her days boating, swimming and gardening. In her late years her favorite hobby was birdwatching. And she never tired of talking about the amazing strength of her generation, the “Greatest Generation “ and especially the strength of the WWII veterans.
In her retirement years, she enjoyed her nickname of “Coupon Queen”, still using her math skills. She enjoyed her last 28 years showing her ability to save her shoppers a lot of money at garage sales and her favorite place, White Oaks Market in Statesville. Other activities and highlights of her life were journaling at the Mooresville Creative Writing class, being selected 2011 Honorary Chair of Relay for Life in Mooresville and her yearly role as the angel in the Christmas play at Eastway Baptist Church . She has especially enjoyed the years of fellowship with the Lake Norman Cancer Survivor Support group.
In May of 2016, She completed her ultimate dream... she completed her final credit hours to earn her college degree from Samford University. She was awarded an honorary scholarship and was generously recognized as the oldest graduate of Samford University at the age of 90. Her amazing story was captured by local TV stations and newspapers (‘Frozen in Time’ in the Mooresville Tribune). Her message to everyone after that was “Don’t give up your dreams".
In lieu of flowers, her wishes included donations be made to any of the following: Williamson’s Chapel United Methodist Church, Hospice of Iredell County or Serenity House of Mooresville.
Her Celebration of Life service will be at Williamson’s Chapel United Methodist Church in Mooresville on June 12th at 2:00 pm.
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