Doris LaVerne Lochmiller Hansen
July 22, 1920

Doris LaVerne Lochmiller Hansen was born July 22, 1920 to Laura Elsie Marshall Lochmiller and J. H. Gottlieb Lochmiller on their farm in East Boyer Township near Denison, Iowa. Doris attended East Boyer Country School where she enjoyed many gatherings for school programs & community dances -- and graduated from Denison High School in 1938.

Doris Lochmiller & John Hansen were married on August 10, 1941, after a courtship which included frequent trips to the Ritz Movie Theater in Denison. They made their home on a farm in Crawford County, Iowa, where Doris lived with her beloved husband John from 1941 to 2016 – and then moved to Silveridge, where she and John enjoyed several years of musical events and fellowship at Silveridge.

In earlier years, Doris & John enjoyed many evenings at dance halls in Crawford County – and always welcomed visitors at the farm and hosted many lively birthday celebrations. They were avid travelers and took many trips together to Chicago, Florida, Niagara Falls, Philadelphia, New York City, Seattle and San Francisco. They went to Washington, DC, the Grand Canyon, and to Europe for their 40th Wedding Anniversary with their daughter Lucy. They traveled to Branson, Yosemite, and Texas with their daughter Barb and son-in-law Gary, and to the St. Louis area to visit their daughter Shirley and son-in-law Dave.

Doris and John were partners in running the farm, both outdoors and inside, keeping meticulous financial records together – and as their daughters remember, spending almost the entire month of January at the dining room table working through those records to prepare tax returns.

Doris kept notebooks with the dance steps she recorded at her daughters’ dancing lessons and encouraged them to practice their piano and dancing lessons. She made learning new activities fun, including Fox & Goose in the snow, badminton, softball, and dandelion chains in the summer, creative baking for birthdays, and gardening.

Even farm animal chores, picking up stray ears of corn behind the horses Fannie & Daisy, and scrubbing the house for birthdays could all be fun in her company (most of the time). She also helped her daughters learn to sew on Grandma Lochmiller’s heirloom pedal sewing machine.

Doris sometimes recalled her time growing up when farm kids could not go to high school unless they stayed in town, because the roads were impassable with either snow or mud. So she stayed in Denison with her aunt and uncle – and Donnabelle Mullenger (Donna Reed) stayed in town with her grandparents. Doris and Donnabelle both walked together in the very cold weather all the way out to the high school, located approximately where Gracewell Nursing Facility is now located. Doris enjoyed many reunions & lunches with her high school classmates and is the last surviving member of her graduating class of 1938.

Doris and John were both lifelong readers, and encouraged their daughters to read, subscribing to National Geographic, the Des Moines Register, Life Magazine, Look Magazine, the Omaha World Herald – and Readers’ Digest, from which they all had a great time hearing John read the jokes.

Doris was a devoted wife and mother, by John’s side in times of illness and visiting him every day that he was at Eventide in 2016, just as he was by her side in times of illness, including many medical trips to Omaha. They celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary with an Open House at Silveridge and their 77th wedding anniversary on August 10, 2018.

Doris was a member of the Ladies Aid of Zion Lutheran Church -- and the visits of Pastor C.W. Schmidt, Pastor Keinath, Pastor Kaiser, Pastor Wrede and all of the pastors lifted her in spirit, heart, and body. Doris and John were members of Zion Lutheran Church through their entire marriage and their faith was always an important part of their lives, with regular church attendance and participation in all the church activities. At Silveridge, Doris & John regularly attended Sunday services and Communion.

One of Doris’s most valued qualities by all who knew her was that she was always a good listener -- an understanding and cheerful person to anyone who talked with her.

In their later years, Doris and John were cared for by many family members, including their granddaughter, Vicki Schraeder.

Doris was preceded in death by her beloved husband John, her parents Laura Elsie Marshall Lochmiller & Gottlieb Lochmiller, her sister Anna Lochmiller Keating, her brothers Hubert Lochmiller and Glen Lochmiller, her son-in-law Dave Long, and other beloved family and friends.

She is survived by three daughters: Lucy (Javier Jimenez)Hansen; Barb (Gary)Preul, and Shirley Long; grandchildren: Rhonda (Jim) Gray, Vicki (Randy) Schraeder, Julie (Jim) Thelen, James Long, and Andrew Long; great-grandchildren: Zach (Tedi) Gray, Brandyn Schraeder, Cole Schwarte, Jake (Britni) Gray, Heather (Andy) Thompson, Seth Gray, Justin Schraeder, Amanda (Drew) Mallonee, Aria Long, and Malcolm Long; and great-great grandchildren: Gordon Gray, Gavin Gray, Grady Gray, Cora Gray, Addison Gray, and Nora Mallonee.

Funeral Services were held 2:00 PM, Saturday, March 16, 2024 at Zion Lutheran Church in Denison, Iowa. Rev. Bill Wrede officiated the service with interment in the Morgan Cemetery in Schleswig, Iowa. Organist Karen Kahl provided accompaniment for congregational hymns “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” “The Old Rugged Cross” and “Amazing Grace.” Serving as honorary pallbearers were Rhonda Gray, Vicki Schraeder, Julie Thelen, Jim Long and Andrew Long. Serving as pallbearers were Norm Farrington, Kevin & Cindi Jo Bohm, Grant Lochmiller, Justin Schraeder and Cole Schwarte. Following the burial, the family invited everyone to return to the church for a time of fellowship and lunch. Services were entrusted to the Huebner Funeral Home.

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