Lorraine Olive Stanwood

Proverbs 31 tells us “A woman of noble character is hard to find. She is worth far more than rubies. Her children rise up and call her blessed, her husband also, and he praises her. A woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” Lorraine Olive Stanwood lived her life as a Proverbs 31 woman.

Born October 5, 1927 to Harold & Mable Glackin of Iowa City, Iowa, she was the youngest of three children. In the midst of the Great Depression when Lorraine was nine, her mother died of cancer and her father, unable to keep the family together, sent her and her two brothers to live in the Salem Children’s Home Orphanage in Flanagan, Illinois. The home was supported by the Mennonite Church and it was there that the loving couple who ran it, Mr. & Mrs. Moser, introduced Lorraine to her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Mosers ultimately became Lorraine’s legal guardians and after she graduated from Pontiac High School, they assisted her in attending The Mennonite School of Nursing in Bloomington, Illinois where she completed her training to become a Registered Nurse.

While at nursing school, Lorraine was introduced to a young army soldier who had just returned home after the end of World War II. Lorraine and Jay Stanwood fell in love and were married on September 2, 1950. Lorraine worked as a nurse while Jay completed his engineering degree at Purdue University, and upon graduation in 1952 Jay accepted a job with Douglas Aircraft which relocated them to Long Beach, California. Upon arriving in Long Beach, they visited the Christian & Missionary Alliance Church and remained active participants there until their move in 2021 to Town & Country Manor in Santa Ana, a retirement community owned and operated by the Alliance.

Lorraine worked at St. Mary’s Hospital in Long Beach until the birth of their third child, after which two more children arrived completing the family. She kept busy as a full-time homemaker in the family’s home on Pattiz Avenue where Jay & Lorraine lived for 65 years. Lorraine reconciled with her father soon after moving to California, providing a beautiful example of Godly grace and forgiveness as she showered love and care on her dad and his wife for the remainder of their lives.

Lorraine served the Lord tirelessly as a Sunday School Teacher for 50 consecutive years, as well as teaching Vacation Bible School every summer and leading afterschool Good News Clubs for elementary school kids under the banner of the Long Beach chapter of Child Evangelism Fellowship. She felt she was called to teach children about Jesus, just as “Mom & Dad” Moser had taught her as a young girl in the orphanage. In addition to children’s ministry, Lorraine enjoyed participating in missionary support groups and housed numerous visiting missionaries in her home as well as hosting countless church functions there.

Lorraine passed away peacefully at home on June 30, 2023 at the age of 95, just two months after the death of her loving husband of 72 years. Their five children produced eighteen grandchildren who in turn gave their beloved Grandma & Grandpa 27 Great Grandchildren and 2 Great Great Grandchildren (and counting)! Lorraine never missed an opportunity to pass along her faith and love for Jesus to her children and tribe of grandchildren. Her entire family, alongside the countless kids she introduced to Jesus and the many lives she touched through her selfless service, have indeed risen up to call her blessed.