Lorene B Jannusch

Lorene Berdella (Palmberg) Jannusch, 104, of Rio Rancho, NM went home to be with the Lord Jesus Christ on Friday, May 26, 2017. Lorene died peacefully at her home, surrounded by her loving family. Visitation will be from noon to 2 p.m. on Monday, June 5, 2017 at Cotter Funeral Home in Momence, Illinois. A 2 pm funeral service will be held at the funeral home followed by interment at Memorial Gardens Cemetery where Lorene will be laid to rest beside her husband, Floyd Jannusch. The Rev. Karl Koeppen of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Bourbonnais, Illinois will officiate. Lorene was born January 24, 1913 in a farm house west of Ludlow, IL, the only daughter of Carl Axel and Anna Karina (Natterstad) Palmberg. She grew up on farms during the Great Depression and graduated from Paxton Community High School. After high school she moved to Kankakee to study hair dressing. It was there that she met her future husband, Floyd Harris Jannusch. They were married on April 2, 1938 and celebrated their 53rd wedding anniversary before Floyd died on October 27, 1991. During WWII, while Floyd was in Europe, Lorene worked at the Bear Brand Hosery factory in Kankakee making socks for all branches of the military. Upon his return home in 1946, they built a home in Kankakee and started a family. In 1988, Lorene and her daughter moved from Kankakee to Rio Rancho, NM to be near Lorene's son and his family. Lorene was preceded in death by her two brothers, Gordon of Thomasboro, IL, who died at 105 in January 2017, and Eugene of Hot Springs, Ark. She is survived by daughter Susan of Rio Rancho, NM, son Randy (Debbie) of Rio Rancho, NM, three grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren. Lorene will be remembered for the smile she always wore, her love for her family, and the stories she told of her youth. She remembered family members talking about the sinking of the Titanic (in 1912) and those who had been lost on it, riding a horse to a one-room school house and sleeping in an unheated farm house bedroom where the snow drifted in through the ill-fitting window onto the sill and the floor during winter snow storms. Lorene was a gentle soul who taught her children to always think of the feelings of others and to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. This philosophy has been passed down to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St. Paul's Lutheran Church where Lorene was a member during the 56 years she lived in Kankakee.

Lorene B Jannusch

January 24, 1913 - May 26, 2017

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