My Angel Mother
Lorraine Yvonne Jensen Ohrmund’s Eulogy
By. Cheri Tibbitts
My mom was born on August 23rd, 1939 to VeNora and Rueben Jensen in Reno, Nevada. She was the youngest of nine children, her identical twin sister, Elaine being just minutes older than her. Her older siblings ranged from 24 years to 9 years older than her and her twin, so growing up she often played and went to school with some of her nieces and nephews that were the same age as her and Elaine. She loved that.
When the twins were six years old, their father passed away. After a few years the family moved to Riverside, California. The twins didn’t want to move to Riverside but after awhile, they really enjoyed it. The twins had lots of friends and had lots of fun experiences.
Mom was so good at looking for the bright side in a situation, and taught me to do the same. She helped me to see new paths in life with the prospective of having new adventures with opportunities to learn new things and meet new people. When I moved to Los Angeles to attend art school, Atlanta, Georgia to do my dietetic internship, and Salt Lake City, Utah for my first job as a dietitian and diabetes educator, I was so excited for all these opportunities because mom had shown by her example to be an optimist and look for the good.
In high school the twins went to work at Harris’ Department Store and Kristy’s clothing store. They enjoyed buying their own clothes and always enjoyed dressing a like. Their twin connection was so incredible that many years after high school they even showed up to a family dinner wearing the same dress, which was totally unplanned. The twins absolutely loved being twins and often talked about feeling sorry for people who were not twins. Even though they had some differences in taste and likes and dislikes, most of the time they had fun being together.
Mom, my brother, Steve, and I often took road trips up to my Aunt’s house in Utah for a visit when I was young. I remember during a trip to Utah we started playing the popular board game Monopoly one evening. As the evening went on, all of the players except for my mom and Aunt Elaine were left playing the game when we went to bed. The next morning the twins were right where we left them the night before playing Monopoly. They enjoyed being together so much they would loan each other money to keep the game going through the night.
In high school the twins were majorettes. Mom was on the girl’s league board and sang in the choir. She loved to sing and dance. In high school and college, her dance cards were always full of boy’s names that wanted to dance with her.
The two of us have always enjoyed singing along to our favorite songs by Barbara Streisand, The Bee Gees, Abba, or music from the musical My Fair Lady. On road trips, you could hear her give a loud “ah ha!” when listening to country music. She always made me laugh.
Her favorite song was The Lord’s Prayer. She would sing it to me almost every night when I was a little girl as a lullaby. This last year of her life when my little family moved in to help care for her, we could hear her sing the song to herself before she fell asleep for the night and the night she passed away, I sang it to her.
The twins loved playing tricks on people. They would switch places at work to confuse people, talk to each other’s boyfriends pretending that they were the right one, and switch dates. They would talk half an hour to each other’s husband and then finally say, “Well, I guess you would like to talk to their wife. My mom said “Husbands had to be flexible with us.” They could often fool my siblings, cousins and cousin’s children, and I. Their voices were so similar.
We would go to my mom or Aunt Elaine and ask, “Are you my mommy?” They would always say “Yes! Now give me a big hug.” One time when I was young, my mom took me to the airport in San Diego for me to fly to Arizona to spend a few days with my cousins. After the plane landed in Arizona, my Aunt Elaine was there to pick me up. I remember saying to my Aunt, “Didn’t I just leave you in San Diego?”
After high school, the twins moved to Provo, Utah to attend Brigham Young University. They decided to go to BYU mainly because they didn’t want to take the SAT test, which you didn’t have to take back then to get into the university. They lived in Knight Magnum Hall, a dormitory were there were three sets of identical twins living. During her time in Prove, mom got a job at Heaps of Pizza as a waitress. That is when she learned that waitressing was not her thing. She started on Friday night and quit on Saturday morning.
Elaine met her future husband, Dick Barnes during their first quarter. Elaine married Dick in August of 1958 and then they moved to Wisconsin for dental school. After Elaine was married and left, my mom felt alone and lost without her twin by her side, so she left BYU in March of 1959 and moved home. She was home just a few weeks when her brother Jay suddenly passed away. My mom has always shown by example how to serve others with love and unselfishness. After her brother passed away leaving a wife and three young children, my mom moved in with the children and sister in law to help for a time.
My mom had a wonderful and special relationship with her nieces and nephews. They loved spending time together. I have fond memories of going to family reunions in Mammoth Lakes, California during the winter with the “So. Cal cousins” and having fun skiing and snowmobiling, but the best times would be had gathered around the table playing the card game spoons. My mom who is always so sweet would change into an aggressive spoon-stealing woman. We would all be laughing so hard when the first spoon was taken and my mom would go in for the kill to grab another before the last spoon was gone.
Mom spent many of summer days in the mountain town of Crestline, California at her brother, Nadell’s cabin. That is where she met my dad. My grandpa had built a resort in Crestline, which was called Ohrmund’s resort, and my dad worked on the resort. My dad would often tell us the story of when he and his dad where sitting on their front porch of their house watching the people pass by. One-day Lorraine and Elaine walked by and my grandpa said to my dad “Those are good girls. You should marry one of them.” My dad took my grandpa’s advice.
Mom and dad had fun going on dates every Saturday to Los Angeles where they attended musicals, special plays, or movies. They met in May of 1962, by November they were engaged, and then married on January 26th, 1963. They were married for 58 years before my dad passed away last year.
After they were married, my dad finished school at the junior college and then they moved to San Diego, so he could finish his degree in real estate at San Diego State University. Mom worked as an escrow officer while he attended school. My mom and dad found that the real estate field suited them well and was a good way to provide for their family. When my parents decided to start their own real estate appraisal business, they formed a lasting and successful working partnership that lasted until my dad retired. Dad would do the appraisal research and mom would type up the reports.
My mom was always so dedicated to helping any member of her family with whatever they chose to pursue. She allowed all of us kids to have the opportunities we desired, such as playing sports, participating in music and dance, or enjoying our hobbies. She never told us we couldn’t do something.
One year she took my brother Steve, his friend, and I to the Anaheim convention center for a week long baseball card convention. My brother was very into baseball cards and getting ball player’s autographs. She and my dad would also drive us to Yuma, Arizona for Padre spring training so Steve could collect signatures and meet his favorite ball players.
Mom wanted a large family, but my dad was raised an only child, so he felt after having my brother Frankie and my sister Julie they were set. Mom wanted to add more children to the family, so ten years after Frankie was born they had my brother Steve, and then almost two years later they had me. Mom loved being a mom and she was really good at it. She worked at the snack shop during little league baseball season, helped us with our homework, drove us to where ever we wanted to go, made us three meals a day, and attended all of our baseball and volleyball games, which she continued to do for the grandchildren as she was able.
Mom loved taking us places, such as the Cotton factory, ice cream factory, Yuma Prison, Disneyland, Utah, Balboa Park, and many more. My dad often times was not able to join in on the trips, due to his work schedule, but that did not stop mom from showing us the world.
It took me quite sometime to find my husband, so mom and I became traveling companions. We loved to travel and we loved traveling together. Our favorite trips included going to church history sites in Nauvoo, Illinois, Kirkland, Ohio, Palmyra, New York, and Utah. We were also able to travel to England and France, which was so much fun seeing all the old historic sites and experiencing the different cultures and food. Our favorite food in Paris was by far the Nutella and banana crêpes. I feel so blessed to have had so many fun experiences with my mom. She was my best friend, mentor, and comforter.
When my Aunt Elaine passed away on September 14, 1999 after a year long battle with cancer, I remember my mom coming into my room, climbing into bed with me, and crying. It was the first time I saw my mother cry. She later explained to me that when Elaine passed away she felt Elaine’s spirit go and half of her own self was gone.
I don’t have a twin sister, so I don’t know exactly how my mom felt when Elaine passed away, but did have the most amazingly kind, loving, selfless, independent, charitable, patient, spiritual angel mother ever who just happen to be my best friend. I love her more than words can explain, and I miss her everyday. I am sad that Hope won’t be able to grow up with my mom here on earth, but I am comforted that even though we may not see her, she is still always with us.
Thank you for teaching me how to quilt, cook, play piano and bake. Thank you for showing by example the importance of exercise. Thank you for allowing me to try new things and to explore all that life can bring. Thank you for letting me face my trials and overcoming them. Thank you mom for teaching me how to pray. Thank you for teaching me how to turn to my Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ for guidance and support in hard and happy times. Thank you for reminding me always that they are aware of me and love me. Thank you for teaching me the importance of forgiveness and to always show love to our family. Thank you for showing me how to be a good friend. Thank you for being the best mom I could ever want.
I love you forever
I like you for always
As long as I am living
My mother you will be.
In the name of Jesus Christ Amen
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