Obituary

Sylvia ?Lorraine? Stickler was born on August 25, 1922 in Chowchilla, California. She was born into a farm family of nine children. Her parents, Thomas and Sarah Marie Sorensen, already had five boys and two girls at the time of Lorraine’s birth. The family had a small dairy and fruit farm six miles from Chowchilla in the San Joaquin Valley.

In 1930 the family moved to Madera, California, after losing the Chowchilla farm during the Stock Market Crash of 1929. They later moved to Auberry, California and then to San Bernardino, where her dad joined the Forestry Service.

In 1942, Lorraine married Bill Stickler, who became an Air Force Officer, resulting in numerous moves around the country. Lorraine always created a warm and loving home wherever they stopped, even for a few days. Billy was born on June 15, 1946 in Inglewood, California. Nancy was born on June 4, 1950 in Tucson, Arizona, and Linda was born on June 12, 1955 in Limestone, Maine. During those oftentimes very stressful years, Lorraine always maintained her unfailing dedication to Bill and her children.

After Bill’s retirement in 1965, the family moved to San Diego and then to Arcadia, where Bill died of leukemia in 1992.

Assisted by family and friends, Lorraine lived in the Arcadia home until this past June, when her failing health led her family to move her into an Assisted Living Home in Mission Viejo. Despite constant and loving care at this Home, her health continued to decline, and she passed away peacefully on the morning of December 21, 2006.

Lorraine will be long remembered as a dedicated Wife and loving Mother, as a generous and considerate friend and, most of all, as a loving and caring individual who always put others before herself. She was dearly loved by many and will be terribly missed by her family and everyone who knew her.

A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, December 30, 2006 ~ 1:00 p.m. at the O’Connor Mortuary, 25301 Alicia Parkway, Laguna Hills, CA 92653 949 581-4300.

Her ashes will be interred on a later date at her husband’s gravesite at Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, California.