Lorene House: “Simply the Best” as told by Bill Darnell
Our Mom, Lorene House, was quite a woman. She had many hardships and many challenges thrown at her throughout her life, but she always made it through with her head held high and her spirit unbroken. She always sacrificed for her kids – we never went without anything that was important.
Lorene was honest, loving, caring and
compassionate, and a great storyteller who could always make you laugh.
She was a generous woman — not just financially, but also in spirit.
And there wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do to help people. Mom made sure
we had a wonderful life – Christmas, New Year’s Day, Easter, the
sidewalk sales in Hays, the drive-in movies in Hill City, and even
tickling each other’s back while watching TV.
As a child and young adult, Mom loved school. But getting to school was no picnic — she walked.
Two and a half miles each way, even in a blizzard. She’d walk backwards when the snow was coming down on her face. When she got to the cemetery, she ran past it as fast as she could. She had a perfect attendance in high school — never missed a day.
Our mother had a strong work ethic. She used to always tell us, “Anything worth doing is worth doing right, or it’s not worth doing at all.” Mom got her teacher’s certificate at Fort Hays and taught all eight grades in a one-room country schoolhouse. After she married my dad, Bill Darnell in 1954, she quit teaching and was a full-time homemaker for two small children, Brenda and Tom – and once I was born, me too.
Our
dad was killed in a car wreck when Mom was only 28 years old and eight
months pregnant. She worked wherever she could and later was the
cafeteria cook, along with her sister, Aunt Olive Rome, for both grade
and high schools in Bogue. She was a great cook. She always had a knack
for making something special out of something ordinary. The food she
cooked was delicious – in fact, at school, nobody brought their lunches
from home to school, and on those special days when they had fried
chicken. everyone at the high school raced to the grade school cafeteria
to make sure they got some.
Next she went to work at the Bogue cheese factory. Her job was to test the cheese to make sure it was good to go. Another job included secretary at Money Chevrolet, and later she landed a job at the Graham County Courthouse in the Treasurer’s office and eventually moved into the position of Deputy Treasurer where she spent many years until her retirement.
Lorene remained a widow and single mom for 21 years until in 1975, when she married Ernie House. She and Ernie traveled a lot, mostly to cities that hosted Navy ship reunions, and met up with the wives and men who Ernie served with in the Navy. She loved going to New York City. She especially enjoyed the restaurants, Chinatown and street fairs - all kinds of food and merchandise – she loved watching the people and tasting all the different flavors from around the world.
When my sister Brenda was fighting cancer, Mom and Ernie would go to Concordia every Friday night and stay until Monday morning. She would make what Brenda called “Magic Soup” – just beef and vegetables, but it was magic to Brenda because Mom made it so. Mom and Ernie were together for 23 years before he succumbed to a fatal heart attack.
Mom enjoyed having friends at her house. Her dining room in Bogue was like Grand Central Station, where a multitude of people would join her for coffee and delicious snacks every Saturday morning – and sometimes during the week. She loved people from all walks of life – and people loved her. She was a remarkable lady, great hostess and a solid and loyal friend. She lived a rich and colorful life and loved to laugh and make others laugh too. She was quite a woman, beautiful inside and out. One of a kind, that’s for sure. She touched so many people’s lives in so many ways - she always saw the best in people and never had an enemy. She made friends everywhere she went. To sum it all up, she was simply the BEST!
In her later years, she lived in her home until she had her stroke, and it was decided then that she should move into Dawson Place, where she lived until her death. Our family will always be grateful for the excellent care she received and to those who visited her.
Lorene was preceded in death
by her husbands: Bill Darnell and Ernest House; daughter Brenda Newell;
siblings and their spouses: Alice Moos (Harry), Art Desbien (Oneida),
Alma Thyfault (Bill), Gene Desbien (Eva), Edmae LaBarge (Phil), Stella
Shelton (Milford), Olive Rome (Andy), Harvey Desbien (Doris), Norma
Desbien, and Lena Desbien; stepdaughters: Donna (House) Knipp and
Charlene (House) Yount; and step-grandchild, Andrew Knipp.
Survivors left to cherish her memory are her sons: Thomas Darnell (Mindy) of Damar and Bill Darnell of Hill City; seven grandchildren; 12 step grandchildren and many great grandchildren.
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