Lucille was born in Chicago, IL on February 15, 1915, to the late Hjalmar and Olga (nee: Gustafson) Lange. On August 28, 1943, she was united in marriage with the love of her life, Alex (“Al”) Lofty, who preceded her in death on January 26, 1975.Lucille lived most of her life in the Chicago area until retiring to Brooksville, Florida in August 1981. She came to Racine in 2003 to be near her family. She had been employed by Allstate Insurance as an office administrator for over 25 years.
While in Florida, Lucille was a member of Christ Lutheran Church of Brooksville. When she moved to Racine, she joined Grace Lutheran Church. During her lifetime, she was a tireless volunteer at the Brooksville Regional Hospital, from which she received her 20-Year pin. She remained active well into her 80’s, regularly participating in line dancing classes and the Sons of Norway bowling league.
But the surprise to all who knew her in Illinois was that Lucille Lofty carried a hidden passion for travel. Until 1976, she had never been outside the continental United States. That year, she signed up for a group trip to Hawaii. That was the beginning of 19 trips to six continents, including Egypt, where she sat on a camel in front of the Great Pyramids. One of her favorite trips was a photo-safari to Kenya, where she took a very close-up picture of a lion! In October, 1998, at the age of 83, she walked the Great Wall of China and saw the Three Rivers Gorge the year before it was flooded by a dam.Surviving are her son and daughter-in-law, Donald and Mary Lofty of Racine; grandchildren, Karen (Joseph) Lofty Eaton of Merrimack, NH; and Alex Lofty of Knoxville, TN; great-grandson, Thomas James Eaton; special nephew, Dion (Lottie) Luper; and other nieces, nephews, relatives and friends.
In addition to her parents and husband, Lucille was preceded in death in 1976 by her sister, Ethel (Frank) Luper.
Funeral services will be held Thursday, June 19, 2008, at 8:00 p.m. in the funeral home with Rev. Randal A. Poppe officiating. Visitation will be on Thursday from 5-8 p.m. Private interment will take place at Mt. Olive Cemetery in Chicago on Friday. In memory of Lucille, memorials to the Alzheimer’s Association have been suggested.
A special note of thanks to the entire staff at Harmony Assisted Living Center for the work they did to make Lucille feel comfortable in her new home in Wisconsin and to the staff of Becker-Shoop for the compassionate care they gave during her last few months.
Draeger-Langendorf Funeral Home & Crematory
4600 County Line Rd., Racine 552-9000
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