Loraine Marie Mcwilliams

Loraine Marie McWilliams (Armstrong), passed away at home on July 1, 2013. She was born January 3, 1928, in Kansas City, Kansas, to Nellie and Thomas Armstrong. She was the oldest of their four daughters. Orphaned at the age of five, she and her sisters were raised by the nuns at St. Joseph Orphanage in Kansas City, Missouri. After leaving the orphanage at age 14, she worked hard to put herself through Bishop Ward High School. Following graduation, she went to work as a secretary at Western Electric. Loraine soon met and married the love of her life, Ralph McWilliams, on June 1, 1949. Ralph and Loraine met on a blind double date; he chose the red head and she chose the tall one. They have four children: Celeste, Janice, Mark and Lisa. She very much enjoyed being a mother and making a home for her family.

Upon Ralph's retirement, she surprised him with a gift of 10 acres in the country. This wonderful surprise had been purchased with grocery money that she had secretly squirreled away over the years. They built a home and spent 20 happy years welcoming their children, grandchildren, family and friends.

Loraine was well known and loved for her delicious homemade cookies and banana bread which she generously shared with everyone from the local pharmacist to the veterinarian and anyone who had a sweet tooth! She would whip up your favorite, but her specialties were "chip chocolate" cookies and banana bread with or without nuts.

She enjoyed embroidering and every family member has at least one beautifully hand-stitched quilt and each new grandbaby received their own to keep them warm. She loved to fish and was once proudly pictured in the paper with her prized catch, most likely for the littlest lady catching the largest fish to ever grace the pits of Bates County!!

The kitchen was her favorite room where many hours were spent sewing, playing solitaire and watching her beloved humming birds feed by the windows. Loraine's life centered on her family and she was most content when cooking up a big meal for her loved ones to share.

She will be deeply missed by her family to include her husband of 64 years, Ralph McWilliams of Overland Park; her four children, Celeste Carson, Janice McWilliams, Mark McWilliams (Leah) and Lisa Bruemmer (Kevin); her grandchildren: Matthew Keith (Peggy), Tia Schnieders (Jon), Justin, Sarah, Megan and Nathan Nicolace, Mitchell (Mysti) and Ben (Jessie) McWilliams and Carly Bruemmer; and her great grandchildren: Madeline and Nolan Keith, Noah, Aidan, Gabriel and Jude Schnieders and Brent and Blake McWilliams.

Mom approached life with an "attitude of gratitude" always saying, "God has been good to this little orphan". In reality, the little orphan was a gift to all who were privileged to share her life.

Visitation will be from 9:45-11:00 a.m., Monday, July 8, 2013, at Good Shepherd Catholic Church, 12800 W. 75th Street, Shawnee, Kansas, where a Rosary will be recited at 10:15 a.m. Funeral Mass will follow at 11:00 a.m. Burial at St. Joseph Cemetery, Shawnee, Kansas