It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Lorraine Theresa (Lounsberry) Paxton, at the age of 99, after living a full, happy and loving life.
Lorraine was born in Newark, in 1927, to Margaret (Novak) Lounsberry and Frank Lounsberry. She lived her childhood in Irvington, growing up during the Great Depression and the hardships of World War II. She graduated from Irvington High School at the age of 16 (she skipped 2 grades in grammar school due to her natural intelligence) and went right to work for the Army Signal Corps. She worked the next 14 years for various government agencies and at the VA hospital before taking a break to start her family. Her next job was as the unit secretary in the emergency department at Newton Hospital, a job she loved for over 30 years before retiring.
Lorraine was an adventurous spirit, who was married 4 times, and outlived all her husbands. She was married to Theodore Dunn, Frank Albanese, Everett Williams and Theodore Paxton, who she spent 30 years with in a loving relationship. They enjoyed an active retirement, going on many cruises, trips to the casinos, playing bingo, and participating in events with the Stanhope Seniors.
Lorraine and Ted lived in Stillwater for most of their 30 years together, spending the last few years living in Stanhope with daughter Maria and her family.
Lorraine was the heart and soul of her family and will be greatly missed. She was a loving mother, grandmother, aunt, mother-in-law, and friend to many. She is survived by daughters Maria (Albanese) Choppy and her husband Steve Choppy, and their daughters Katsya and Elizabeth, daughter Andrea (Albanese) (Kash) Gullion and her husband Eric, and her son Alexander Kash and daughter Madeline Kash, and step-daughter Robin (Paxton) Mansfield, and step-grandson Lawerence Williams. She was a loving and cherished aunt to 11 nieces, one nephew, and many great-nieces and nephews.
Lorraine was predeceased by her sister Doris Lounsberry Bartro and husband Ken; and her brother Frank Lounsberry and wife Marianne.
She was very proud of the fact that at the age of 91, she got her first tattoo, a rose matching ones with Maria, Katsya and Elizabeth. Her second tattoo was an anchor to honor the 2 of her husbands who were in the Navy.
She was also very proud of the fact that right up until the end, she could still name all of the US states and their capitals, which she enjoyed doing with her grandson Alex. She leaves behind many hand-sewn specialty placemats, very detailed coloring book pictures which she worked on until the end, and a special place in the hearts of those she knew over the 99 years.
Memorial donations in Lorraine’s name may be made to The Samaritan Inn, at www.samaritaninn.org.