Lori Ann Hale
September 28, 1960 - May 10, 2007
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Lori Ann Hale
September 28, 1960 - May 10, 2007
Obituary
Lori Ann Caruso Hale, born on September 28, 1960, died peacefully at her home on Thursday, May 10, 2007, surrounded by her family and loved ones. Lori had battled breast and thyroid cancer since 1998. Recently the cancer spread into Lori’s lungs and quickly into her brain. Lori wanted to make sure to express a special thanks to her caregiver buddies over the last several years; Dr. Dave Okun, Dr. Nora Evans, Phyllis Martin, and her City of Hope pals Dr. Steve Forman and Barb Stehr. All of them helped make her life better and longer.
Lori was born in New York and moved to California at a young age. Later in life she became a very successful cosmetologist in Hollywood and Los Angeles before pursuing a career helping hundreds of people with alcoholism, cocaine addiction, and severe mental health problems. One of her daily goals was to make someone else’s life better in whatever way possible and there are legions of people who will confirm she was successful. Lori was an active member of St. Kilian’s Catholic Parish in Mission Viejo and enjoyed her involvement with the Pastoral Council, her friends Father Jim and Scotty, and all her Bible study and weekly Rosary pals. Lori made two pilgrimages to Lourdes, France, with the Knights of Malta, one as a Malade and the next year as a volunteer.
Her family was her life and her life was her family. She enjoyed a wonderful relationship with her sister Jackie. Her other sister, Karen, was Lori’s constant nursing buddy during some of her toughest medical challenges, including the Hospice care she received at home. She had a special relationship with her father Ed and mom Ruth. Her nephews Shay, Ryan, and Josh made her giggle constantly. Her lifetime friend Patti had a special place in her heart and soul that is beyond description. Her pals Anna, Karen McCartney, Linda Muhonen, La La Gretchen, and Kristen The Tornado always made her feel special and loved the way friends are supposed to in good times and bad. Lori also had parent and teacher friends and supporters too numerous to name individually at Serra Catholic School and Santa Margarita Catholic High School.
Lori and Bill were married in June 1990 and had two beautiful daughters, Erynn, 15, and Katy, 11. Her Girls, as she often referred to them, became Lori’s passion, joy and meaning in life. She taught them fashion, grooming, homework shortcuts, cooking, laughing, the importance of friendships, and the value of faith and a strong belief in God. Lori loved Erynn and Katy at a level and depth that only mothers understand. Their smiles and laughter often made Lori’s entire day happy and worthwhile in spite of her constant battles with cancer. Her 17-year marriage to Bill was filled with fun and the joy of raising two strong-willed children and overcoming hundreds of different challenges while sharing the intimacy and friendship you hope to experience once during a lifetime.
Lori will be missed in so many ways by so many people, but mostly by her daughters Erynn and Katy. They are fortunate she has left them with her spirit and strength and we know she will be whispering in their ears daily, helping guide them through a beautiful life. Lori Hale, the Mother, Daughter, Sister, Friend, and Wife, is difficult to describe. If we took a beautiful sunset in a vibrantly colored garden, added a beautiful piece of art, music, and the poem of a lifetime, and then threw in the spirit and graciousness of an Angel, we might be close to describing the person we will all miss who has just joined God’s inner circle. P.S. Good-bye Cookie, I have loved you from the first day I saw you.
Open casket visitation with family and friends will be from 7:00 to 8:30 pm and a prayer vigil at 8:30 pm the evening of Thursday, May 17, followed by a funeral Mass at 10:30 am on Friday, May 18. Both will take place at St. Kilian’s Catholic Church in Mission Viejo. Burial will follow at Ascension Cemetery in Lake Forest. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations in Lori’s memory to Susan G. Komen for the Cure 3191 A Airport Loop Drive, Costa Mesa CA. 92629.
120 responses to Lori Ann Hale
BILL HALE says:
September 25, 2008
Well my Sweetheart Cookie, it’s very late on the 25th and your Birthday is this Sunday the 28th so I wanted to be first like always to wish you a HAPPY BIRTHDAY.You would have been a beautiful and forever young 48 years of age. It’s almost 17 months since you left us and went home to Heaven and joined the Angel Brigade.I’m sorry you’re not here in our life with me and the girls for many reasons, one of which is my continued effort to spoil you with a few special gifts. I saw a few new Yurman pieces you would have gone nuts over. This Sunday on your Birthday about 100 ++ of your Loyalists will walk in your honor and memory at the Avon Breast Cancer walk. Troy and Kim organized teams and we also have a large number of free agents joining us as well. I’m sure we’ll share a lot of smiles and laughs at your expense and needless to say we will also share some tears of joy and sadness. In one regard Lori Ann your death took so much of our hearts, souls, passions, purpose and meaning yet what you left us with grows in meaning and deeper spiritual and emotional significance each day. The memories and reflections so many of us have and cherish so fully helps us accept the blessings we had for so many years sharing our lives with you.The girls still struggle occasionally without having Mom and the centerpiece of their lives and often I see the pain and the question in their beautiful eyes and faces but they keep healing and walking through the grief and loss and get stronger each day. Naturally they would, they observed one of the most courageous battles of strenght and dignity I have ever witnessed or for that matter ever read about in my entire life.As you know, my life is the girls and I’m doing the best I can. Some days are a solid A and others maybe a C-. But just like you , I simply show up each day and do the best I can and try to follow the beautiful spiritual road you built for us. My sister Margaret recently joined you and I hope you’re showing her all the beautiful gardens and special places and sharing lots of laughs together.My life is very different and will be for many years to come and that’s OK, your whispers and symbols help me heal and move on each day.I’m fulfilling the promises I made to you and have about 3 big ones left which I know will make you smile and give you a sense of finality. This O’Connor site has been very therapeutic for me since last May of 2007 and we will turn off the site in the next few weeks and then my writings to you will be only in my thoughts. I still feel the vibrancy of your existence and I think it will remain with me until the last breath I take which makes me smile about so many conversations we shared since June of 1987. Lori Ann our beautiful and special daughters who I am so proud of miss you and love you and I do as well. HAPPY 48TH BIRTHDAY my sweet little COOKIE. And Yes, I visit you often and keep the things close to me which meant so much to you so that you will never feel alone.
Debbie Farinella says:
September 28, 2008
Happy Birthday to you Sweet Chickie! We had quite a celebration for you as we walked through the streets around Fashion Island for the Race for the Cure. We strutted in our Pink and looked towards heaven and thought of you. Smiles, damp eyes and wonderful memories. I visit you often and leave my “little somethings” for you to enjoy. I talk out loud to you often and laugh out loud a whole lot!! I will celebrate you again as we “Scrap for the Cure” this week at Nancy’s. I continue to celebrate you everday. In things that I do. In every thought that I have. In every part of my heart and soul and forever in my prayers. I miss you everyday.
Happy Happy Birthday.
I love you.
Debbie-Doo
BILL HALE says:
November 2, 2008
Good Morning Lori Ann..Its All Souls day when we remember our loved ones and so many others who have died and gone to heaven and their final resting place, naturally I think of you as I do every day.My mind races through your last 11 days at home with me and the girls and all your friends and family before God said it’s time to come home and you died and left us. The journey for the last 18 months that the Girls and I have traveled has been like driving on an old worn out country road with lots of bumps and potholes and twists and turns but recently the road seems to be leveling off and straightening out and a lot smoother and we experience less and less bumpiness and more and more we enjoy the colorful passing landscapes of life and the beautiful flowers, trees, sunsets and snow capped mountains we see in our rear view mirror.Lori you left us with so much beauty and so much grace and tenderness. Every day I recall the love and affection and gentleness you shared with me and the girls and all I can do is feel grateful having had the chance to be your partner in life for almost 20 years through the joy we shared and challenges we faced together and beat back so many times for so many years.Your beautiful daughters are growing and maturing more each day, they tolerate Dad’s quirks and over protective parenting efforts and I hope one day they’ll laugh about all the things we;ve shared and endured together.The holidays are approaching and I know we’ll have a lot of sadness and also joy thinking about past seasons when you brightened our days with your loving special gestures, they mean more and more each day.This will be one of the last notes I get o share with you on this Guestbook, we’ll shut it down in a few weeks and then I’ll write to you in my mind. Cookie, I’m making progress on the things you made me promise you and I’ll make sure I never stop trying to fulfill each one. The girls seem to be enjoying a happy life, they have simply found a way to move forward without the most precious and loving person thay have ever had in their lives, they both have so many of your beautiful traits and they make me so proud each day. They seem to possess a great deal of your strenght, depth and loving concern for others. I visit you often so you won’t feel alone and I keep the items close to me that you asked me to so you’ll always feel connected to us. And of course the Fiji water on your gravesite and Hazelnut Latte with you is a standing order about every 10 days. I love you and miss you and hear the whispers and your winds and breezes of knowledge and guidance showing me what to do and letting me know you’re with me each day. Rest Well my Love.
BILL HALE says:
November 26, 2008
Good Morning Lori Ann..The Holidays are upon us and tomorrow is Thanksgiving. All the festivities for the season of gratitude, reflection and celebration have started and the moods and attitudes of people are reflecting your favorite time of the year. The void of meaning in my life and the girls lives is less onerous this year but the 3 of us still feel it, more quietly and more somberly but it’s there. My memories take me to the little girl joy and excitement you radiated through Thanksgiving, Christmas and into the New Year which was so magnetic for us and anyone who came in contact with you. I still marvel at how well you were able to hide so many presents in your closet, We’ll be OK tomorroww, dinner with friends and many laughs followed by the fun challenges of what to surprise the girls with for Christmas and how best to ignite their Holiday spirit and the excitement about a New Year. Our acceptance of your death is felt deeply and we continue our journey of life and daily healing and absorb the painful absence in our own ways. The chasm in our hearts and souls is something I have to come to realize will never be filled, a part of us went to heaven with you the same as a part of you remains with me and the girls here on earth. As the days pass my sweet Angel I can only be grateful for the time and life we shared and count the daily blessings you gave us and the joy you filled our lives with. The emotional pain and less frequent collapses and setbacks are only fueled by not being able to laugh with you, raise the girls together,talk with you, share with you, plan with you and love with you. I miss you and I love you Cookie and I’ll drop you a Christmas wish and update as the day draws closer. HAPPY THANKSGIVING LORI ANN.
Debbie Farinella says:
December 19, 2008
Sweet Lori Ann~ Christmas is a week from today. As I put all of my angels and Nativity scenes in place, I think of you. The statues you gave me of Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus, have been placed under a perfect light where I can see them everyday. It warms my heart as I unpack all the decorations…. all the things we found together. I know you are smiling down at all of us as we scurry around town to find the perfect gifts. You were always right there in the fun of it all. I know you’re right here with us now, too.
Merry Merry Christmas Sweet Angel Girl. I miss you and love you so much.
Debbie Doo