Lolene O. Petersen

Lolene Orlea Petersen, daughter of John H. Meehlhause and Minnie Endorf Meehlhause was born April 2nd, 1924 at Hartley, Iowa. She married Orval Lester Petersen June 12th, 1944 they were together 53 years, Orval passed in 1997. They had 7 children, Larita, Orlo, John, Leann, Owen, Lyle and Lori. She is survived by 3 children, 9 grandchildren, 9 great grandchildren and 1 great great grandchild. She is survived by her daughter Larita Stuart of Wyoming and Sons Orlo of Colorado and Lyle of Ohio. Grand Children; Mark (Vanessa) and Melissa (Cody) of Wyoming; Stephen, Shannon, Stacey (Walker), Brian, Camden (Bethany), Maeren and Caelan of Colorado plus 9 great grand children and 1 great great grandchild. She is also survived by her sister Joann Lincoln of Texas, Sister in laws Ruth Meehlhause of Texas and Carol Meehlhause of Arizona and Brother in law Alvin (Lorene) Petersen of Iowa. Preceded in death by; her husband Orval in 1997, daughter Leann in 1981 and three infants John in 1949, Owen in 1956 and Lori 1960, Her brothers Marlin and Orwin Meehlhause, sister in law†™s Pearl Frutchey and Ruby Stotareau and brother in law, Charles Lincoln, and son-in-law, Marvin Stuart. Lolene was born early in the morning April 2, 1924 to John and Minnie (Endorf) Meehlhause on a farm 1 mile North and 2 ½ miles West of Hartley Iowa, with Dr. Hand and Lillian Gathman attending. Her early days were spent on farms in Northwest Iowa where an aunt taught her to crochet pot holders made with Carpet Warp thread and over the years she made uncounted dozens of them, most of which she gave away to friends and relatives. In home economics in High School she made her first quilt blocks going on to embroider enough to make a quilt. From that start, she made numerous quilts over the years, giving most of them away. She graduated from Hartley High School in 1941 and took 6 weeks of summer school after High School to obtain a Normal Training Certificate to teach school. She taught in rural one room schools for 3 years. One year south of Aston, IA, 1 year near Moneta, IA and the last year after marriage at Wallace school North of Everly, IA. She married Orval Petersen on June 12th 1944. They met at the Roof Garden Ball Room at Lake Okoboji near Spirit Lake, Iowa. Dad†™s pick up line when he asked her to dance that night was he wanted to dance with the gal with blue skirt on for the Waltz that was playing. It was the Blue Skirt Waltz. They loved to dance, went to countless ones over the years and you could always count on the Blue Skirt Waltz being played sometime during the evening if they were at a dance. Lolene was a tenant farmer†™s wife on three different farms for 12 years in Northwest Iowa near Hartley, Everly and Moneta. In 1956 they moved to Denver, Colorado where they managed the Acacia motel on South Santa Fe Drive in South Denver for a couple of years. In 1958 they moved to Adams City, Colorado. Orval joined the Labor†™s Union local 720 and work construction jobs throughout the Denver area until he retired in 1979. Lolene primarily was a housewife, she liked to bake and cook and wasn†™t afraid to try new recipes. As a homemaker she enjoyed all aspects as gardening, sewing, baking & cleaning. She sewed most of her dresses in early marriage plus her daughters†™ until pants became fashionable. She also crocheted numerous Afghans and lap throws for her friends and family over the years. Lolene was a Stanley Home Products Hostess for 20 years (doing well enough to earn a paid trip to the New York Worlds Fair in 1964) and worked part time on and off as a maid for several motels in the Denver and Commerce City area. She was an active member of and custodian for the Edelweiss Club in Commerce City Co for many years. She and Orval were members of the Trinity Evangalical and Reformed Church of Christ in Hartley and later Salem United Church of Christ in Denver. She enjoyed traveling and their winter stays in South Texas. She attended world fairs in New York City and Spokane. Visited; Little Rock, Honolulu, Nashville, Seattle, Los Angeles and Orlando. Went salmon fishing out of Westport WA., she made several trips to California and went twice to Canada and made over 40 trips back home to Iowa from Colorado over the years. In 1975 she became interested in Genealogy, and pursued all four Grandparents histories, some back to the 1600†™s. Both her and Orval†™s family trees originated in Germany or what is Germany today. Through this she became friends with many relatives through correspondence. In 1983 Lolene & Orval became Winter Texans in Weslaco, Texas staying at the Snow to Sun RV park. They spent 13 winters in their 2nd home there enjoying all the activities and making numerous friends. She moved to Inglenook Retirement center in Brighton CO in 1998 and made many new friends. This is where she lived until health issues moved her in December 2010 to the Brighton Care Center where she passed away. Birth: Apr 2, 1924, Hartley, Iowa Death: Jun 10, 2011, Brighton, Colorado