Obituary for Lorraine Elizabeth Hinrichsen (Lynch)

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Life Story for Lorraine Elizabeth Hinrichsen (Lynch)

Lorraine…….She was the Little Lady that could…….She could do anything that she put her mind to doing. No matter what obstacles came her way she would make the best of it.

It must have been quite a shock for her, after living in a city all her life, to move to a dairy farm . It must have been quite an adjustment to go from a small immediate family to lots of kids, grand-kids, cousins and in-laws. She learned how to drive on country roads. She learned how to cook for a crowd of 19. But most important of all she became a best friend to my Dad, when he truly needed a friend.

I remember that Dad and Lorraine called each other ‘their special friend’. I remember seeing the initials L.L. printed on a score card after a game of cards and asking Dad ‘What does it stand for?’ Dad said L.L. stands for ‘Little Lady”. Dad and Lorraine did everything together. They took up Square Dancing, they took a lot of side trips in their motor home to King’s Acres Campground in Regina, Hidden Valley Campground in Estevan, fishing up at LaRonge, the pitch-fork steak fondue and musical at Medora, the Passion Play in Spearfish and Hostfest in Minot. They liked camping life so much that they bought a cabin at Kenosee Lake and spent as much time as possible at the lake.

There were times when my family was coming down to visit we would go straight to the cabin at Kenosee and stay there. When we were all there it would be a maze of shoes at the door and sleeping bags in the living room. Grand kids will remember campfires, playing horse shoes, darts, bike rides, water fights, mini-golf and then going to Allison’s Beach Store for an ice-cream cone every night - even if you were still full from supper.

Another highlight of family holidays would be playing games. Lorraine was always up to play card games or board games. We played a lot of dominoes, Aggravation, Sticks, Farmer’s Rummy and Pony Tail. Lorraine would be able to keep one eye on her hand of cards and one eye on Mitzy. She loved her little white dog Mitzy.

Lorraine’s pets were like family to her. She liked to tell stories about her parrot Pierre and her black cat Shakespeare. We all remember the fluffy, long hair, white siamese cat she had named Angel. This cat was a spitfire. Even the vet commented that ‘‘Her name might be Angel, but she ain’t no Angel!’’ Our other family pets including Bagel, Brandy and Sandy’s Pfiefer knew where to go for treats.
When Darren and I re-organized the freezer last weekend we had instructions to save scraps for ‘Fat Charlie”. Lorraine loved all animals and they loved her.

Lorraine looked after her park animals too. Including the squirrels, the blue jays, the hummingbirds and the gold finches. Dan remembers the summer they had orphaned baby racoons next door. Lorraine made sure they were all well fed and watered. We have some amazing pictures of Lorraine feeding the deer out of her hand. The picture on the back of the memorial card is Lorraine with Mr. Buck.

Dad and Lorraine had a lot of fun at the cabin at Kenosee. Lorraine loved nothing more than looking after all of us at the cabin and hosting a turkey dinner. Nobody cooked turkey with dressing and gravy like Lorraine. Curtis liked to hover over the carving station and and help supervise and give reminders to save the potato water for gravy.

I also remember that Lorraine loved hunting for deals at the park garage sales and getting up early for the Red Barn flea market to visit with friends and do a little shopping. Lorraine had a real knack for finding interesting and unusual kitchen gadgets. I’m not sure how many different Canadian Tire stores they went to, or how many trips to Weyburn, but eventually she bought us each an electric potato masher that makes the creamiest mashed potatoes. Lorraine even found an electric vegetable peeler that really works!

Dad and Lorraine were lucky enough to take a few special trips over the years. They travelled to Victoria, to Minnesota for Blue Jays games, to Calgary to visit her mom and Kassandra and Kenneth, to Vegas to see Shania Twain and Circus du Soleil. They especially had a lot of good times together with Lila, taking side trips to try their luck at all the local Casinos.

Dad and Lorraine made many new friends during their travels. By chance, they met Canadian country music singer Carroll Baker. Lorraine became good friends with Carroll through social media. They hymns played today are special ones sung by Carroll Baker that Lorraine picked out with Yvonne.

Lorraine had a real talent for arranging flowers for weddings and special occasions. For a while she even owned and operated Brady’s House of Flowers in Weyburn. She had an eye for arranging the flower pots and baskets at the cabin and on the balcony at the condo. I remember going to a greenhouse with Lorraine one time, and watching her put together really nice bedding plants and colour combinations.

Lorraine also liked to follow the Royal Family in the news. Reading books and magazines about the Queen. One story I remember her telling was from when she was a little girl in school. The teacher was taking attendance and asking for names. Lorraine piped up to say”I’m Lorraine Elizabeth Lynch — Queen Elizabeth!”

I am sorry to say Lorraine’s health was poor the last few years. She fought hard through pancreatitis, diabetes, asthma, back surgery, lung cancer, heart surgery, and hospital pneumonia. Somehow—-no matter how many hospital trips and heart surgeries she had —-somehow —- she always had room in her heart for us.

Thank you Lorraine for looking after us and most of all thank you for looking after Dad. We will miss you.