Lorraine was born in Los Angeles, CA, the 4th of 8 children. When she was a small girl, the family moved to Bishop and Crestview, CA for a job opportunity for her father. She told of stories of living in the snow in Crestview that was on the highway between Mammoth Lakes and June Lake, walking to the one-room school house in the snow each day that had all eight grades together, and skiing using a rope tow. When they moved to Bishop, she remembers attending the Bishop Rodeo, seeing movies in the old Bishop Theater, swimming in an irrigation canal near their home and living a simple life with her parents and all her siblings. Lorraine remembered Father Crowley (namesake for Crowley Lake in Inyo County) who would travel around the county each weekend to say Mass and my grandmother making dinner for him at their home. When she was in junior high, the family moved back to Los Angeles and lived in Highland Park. She was raised in the same neighborhood as many of her aunts, uncles and cousins so grew up very close to her many cousins and maintained relationships through the years. Lorraine attended St. Ignatius Catholic School and then Franklin High School. As with so many at that time, the Depression hit her family hard, and when she was a junior in high school, she and her sister both had to quit school to work to help support their family. She had two brothers that went into the military and went overseas to fight in WWII. The youngest brother of the family was developmentally disabled and Lorraine helped take care of him. In 1947, Lorraine met Tom Main who was to become her husband. They were married by her uncle, Father Maynard Geiger, OFM at St. Ignatius Church in 1950, bought a home and moved to the newly developing suburb of El Monte, about 15 miles east of Highland Park. Their family began growing with Suzanne, born 1951, Larry, 1952, Debra 1954 and David 1955. The children all attended Nativity Catholic School in El Monte. Lorraine was very involved in Church, school activities, sports and all the things Moms do. Lorraine also sang in the church choir for many years and loved singing the Latin Mass and always remembered the Latin hymns over the years. When Mom was in her early 40’s, she took the initiative to attend night school and earned her high school diploma, something she always wished she had been able to do. In 1966, Lorraine started sewing for people and developed a seamstress business that she continued with until just two years ago (at the age of 83). She made wedding gowns, bridesmaids’ dresses, suits, and did alterations of all kinds. Lorraine was very social and had many friends not only in her neighborhood, but at Church and through her seamstress business and her family. She was very close with all her siblings and her mother and father. She continued to take care of her parents until they passed in the 1980’s. She was very close to her brother, Ray, who passed away in 1989. She always remained close until recently with her sisters, Dorothy and Joanne and her brothers, Jim and Bill. In 1996, Lorraine and Tom moved to Yorba Linda at Lake Park Mobile Home Park. She quickly became the president of the social club and enjoyed attending all the events. Her love of games got her involved playing rummy, pinochle and Bunco several times a week. She had many friends at the “Park”. The residents quickly learned of her sewing talents and so her business continued there. Lorraine was a very active, caring and involved person. She was a loving Grandmother to April, Sarah, Danny, Rhenda, Rene, Richard, Tracey and Stephen. She was also a wonderful Great-Grandmother to Taylor, Christian, Kade, Julia, Phoebe, Jade, Joseph, Luke, Isla and Jack. Everyone has a common theme when talking about Lorraine, and that is, “she had a wonderful sense of humor and was so fun to be around”. She will be greatly missed but we know she has begun her new life with God and is full of joy re-connecting with so many relatives who went before her.
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