Velma Loewen

Velma Jane Loewen, the daughter of Harry J. and Verna (Schroeder) Loewen, was born in Mountain Lake, MN on March 4, 1953. Her mother died when she was very young and when she was five years old, her father married Mildred Rogers of Worthington, MN.Velma enjoyed her relationship with her step-mother all these years. She grew up on a farm west of Mountain Lake where she attended both the grade school and high school. She graduated from Mountain Lake High School in 1971, and then attended GoshenCollege in Goshen, IN, graduating in 1975 with a B.A. in Music Education and Organ. Velma was baptized and became a member of the Bethel Mennonite Church in Mountain Lake on May 30, 1971. When she was growing up, she enjoyed helping her dad with thefarm work. From 1975 to 1979, she was administrative assistant in the personnel department of the Mennonite Board of Missions in Elkhart, IN. From 1979 to 1981 she was office manager of the division of nursing at Goshen College. From 1981 to 1983, sheattended the University of Iowa at Iowa City IA and received an M.A. in Hospital and Health Administration. In 1982, she was assistant to the clinical administrator, Department of Internal Medicine for the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics ofIowa City. In 1982, she was administrative resident including acting Vice President of Finance and acting Director of Medical Records at the Mennonite Hospital (now BroMenn) Healthcare in Bloomington, IL. From 1984 to 1987, she was AssistantAdministrator and Director of Materials Management at Fairbury Hospital in Fairbury, IL. From 1987 to 1998, she was administrator of the Meadows Mennonite Home in Chenoa, IL, and from 1998 to the present time she has been administrator of the GoodSamaritan Home in Flanagan, IL. Velma enjoyed singing, playing organ and piano, attending concerts, watching car races and playing with her cats. She loved her friends and family and often traveled to be with them.Velma was diagnosed with Polycystic Kidney Disease in her twenties, and lived with declining kidney function over the following twenty years. She required dialysis for three years before receiving the gift of a kidney transplant on June 12, 2004. Shefelt well and returned to work for the next six months, yet subsequently developed lymphoma, which quickly progressed and caused her death. She died on Monday, January 10, 2005, at the St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria, IL. Velma is survived by her step-mother, Mildred and her husband Marvin Quiring of Mountain Lake, MN; a brother-in-law, John Blosser and his wife Rebecca Untermaher of Goshen, IN; two nephews, Christopher Blosser and his wife Emily, and Matthew Blosser; aniece, Kirsten Blosser; several aunts, uncles, cousins, and many friends. She was preceded in death by her parents; and a sister, Janlee Ruth Blosser.