Nora Mae Flanagan Lonsberg

Nora Mae was born in Erie, PA, on September 10, 1926, the daughter of Nora Celestine Flanagan (nee White) and Vincent Edward “Mick” Flanagan. She was a graduate of Villa Marie Academy and attended Mercyhurst College in Erie. During World War II, Nora Mae relocated to New York City where she was a model for the John Robert Powers studio. While there, she met John Paul Lonsberg, her future husband of sixty-six years, immediately before he shipped out with the 100th Infantry Division. He served as Commander F Company, 398th Regiment, 100th Infantry Division, fighting in France, Belgium and Germany. On September 14, 1946, Nora Mae married John Paul Lonsberg in Erie, Pennsylvania, entering into a marriage that would sustain the couple for more than six decades until his recent death in January of this year in Dubai where the couple had been living with their son and daughter-in-law since the Fall of 2012. Those who love her will remember Nora Mae Lonsberg for many attributes not the least of which was her “expectant, forward-looking smile, enough to turn the future into summer.”

Mrs. Lonsberg is survived by her eldest daughter and son-in-law Linda and Bob Franklin of North Carolina; her son and daughter-in-law John Vincent and Dominika Elzbieta Bajuk Lonsberg of Dubai UAE; two grandchildren Heather O’Connell and Sean Gilbert; six great-grandchildren Delaney, Kyle and Jake O’Connell, and Jacob, Logan and Hannah Gilbert; and many cousins. Mrs. Lonsberg was predeceased by her daughter Susan Lonsberg in 2001. She will be buried next to both her husband John Paul and her daughter Susan at Bellerive Cemetery in Creve Coeur, Missouri.

The family will receive friends in St. Louis on Friday, November 1st at Kriegshauser Mortuary West, 9450 Olive Boulevard 63132 from 4 pm – 8 pm. The Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, November 2 at St. Monica Catholic Church in Creve Coeur, 12136 Olive Boulevard 63141 at 10 am with interment immediately following the service at Bellerive Cemetery, 740 North Mason Road 63141.