Funeral services were held Wednesday, January 23, 2008 at the Rippey United Methodist Church for Lucille Norgren. Words of comfort were given by Rev. Deb Parkison and Rev. Clare DeBoef, pastors of the Rippey United Methodist Church. Lucille’s children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren served as Casket Bearers and Honorary Bearers. Music was provided by the Rippey United Methodist Church Choir accompanied by Carson Griffith. Interment was at the Rippey Cemetery. Slininger-Rossow Funeral Home of Jefferson was in charge of arrangements.
Laura Lucille Gilmore Norgren was born October 5, 1913, near Jamaica, Iowa to Ottie Ira Gilmore and Fannie E. Lamp Gilmore.
In 1920 the family moved to a farm outside Cooper, where Lucille attended school and graduated with the Class of 1931. She played running center on the basketball team and played the piano for school activities. She attended AIB in Des Moines and worked at Peanut Products in Des Moines and later at the Rippey Savings Bank in Rippey.
On May 14, 1944, Lucille married Hugo A. Norgren at her parents home. They lived in St. Louis until the war ended, then moved to Rippey and made their home on a farm south of town where they raised four children. In 1985, Hugo and Lucille moved to an acreage northwest of Rippey, and in 2005 they moved to a retirement apartment in Perry. After Hugo’s death in September 2006 Lucille moved to the Panora Nursing and Rehab Center, where she died on January 19, 2008.
Throughout their lives Hugo and Lucille loved to travel. They went on annual family vacations to Minnesota, took fishing trips to Canada and visited relatives in Indiana, Colorado and Texas. After Hugo retired they traveled to Sweden and Northern Ireland and drove a camper to Alaska. For more than 20 years they took a yearly bus trip with a Methodist group to many parts of the country, including New York City, the Southeast, the Canadian Rockies and the American Southwest.
Lucille and Hugo especially enjoyed family get-togethers and attending their children’s and grandchildren’s school activities. Lucille was an avid birdwatcher, enjoyed singing and playing the piano, and sang for many years in the church choir. She loved to read and play games, especially cards, and was a great cook, much to her family’s pleasure. Those who knew her well enjoyed her dry wit and ever present sense of humor. Lucille was a long time member of the Rippey United Methodist Church and the Ladies Aid.
In addition to her husband and her parents, Lucille was preceded in death by her brother and sister-in-law, Frank and Marjorie Gilmore, and a niece. She is survived by her children: Carol John and husband David of Jefferson, Frances Teagarden and husband Jack of Grand Junction; Barbara Hunter and husband Alan of Decatur, GA. and Roger Norgren and wife, Colleen of Rippey; six grandchildren; Kerry Juhl and husband Andy of Clive, Kevin Teagarden and wife Melinda of Glendale, AZ., Nathaniel Norgren and wife Stephanie of Kansas City, Kaisha Norgren and fiancé Jake Pruett of Kansas City, Kara Norgren of Cedar Falls, and Zachary Norgren of Iowa City; and seven great-grandchildren; Sara, Ben and Seth Juhl, Chloe and Abigail Teagarden, and Jack and Isabella Norgren; several nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.