LORANE –Another of our longtime Lorane residents has passed. Donna Moore was a kind, sweet woman. She and her husband Larry had been married for 68 years and were both active in the Lorane Grange and the Lorane Christian Church. Their daughter, Martha, and son-in-law, Randy Eschleman also have lived in Lorane for many years.
Randy paid tribute to her recently in announcing her passing on Facebook: “My mother-in-law was a very special and loving woman. To know her was to love her; she had a servant’s heart. She was ready to go to heaven and trade in her broken, earthly body for a new sports model. I have no doubt that she will be waiting for the rest of us with that warm smile and fresh flowers in our rooms.”
Donna’s celebration of life, which was held this past week at the Lorane Christian Church, was well-attended with many people paying their respects to her and her family.
Another one of our local women – Sharon Armstrong Annett – is facing some rare, specialized surgery in New York on Dec. 19 to remove a non-malignant “schwannoma” tumor which had paralyzed the right side of her face since last February. It was originally diagnosed as Bell’s Palsy, but was later determined to be a tumor. Unfortunately, simply removing the tumor would not correct the paralysis, but a specialist in New York has developed a way to cut a nerve from her ankle to replace the nerve in her neck that is being cut in order to remove the tumor which, in turn, will hopefully allow her face to return to its normal features.
A GoFundMe account was set up to help cover Sharon’s and her support team’s travel and expenses while in New York that won’t be covered by her insurance.
Sharon is a longtime school bus driver for the Crow-Applegate-Lorane School District and is beloved by the whole community. She and her husband Jim Annett have lived in the community their whole lives, and during the trip she will have his love and support as well as that of their adult children, Josh and Erica. To donate, go to the GoFundMe website and search for “Sharon Annett.” May your surgery and healing go well, Sharon! Our love and prayers are with you on this journey.
A quick note: My husband Jim has been pain-free now for two and a half weeks since he received his second epidural injection. We’re praying that it continues to work for him.
Marissa McNutt Cooper of the Lorane Community Association says there is an increase in the number of children who will have ornaments on this year’s Angel Trees at the Lorane Family Store and Crow Middle/High Schools. She’s put out a call for everyone who wants to participate, to either select an ornament featuring one of these kids and purchase a new, unwrapped gift that can be delivered to them this holiday season or to donate to the fund that will be used to buy gifts for those whose ornaments remain on the trees. They need to begin wrapping and distributing these gifts by Dec. 18.
The food boxes are also in place and your food donations should be made this week if at all possible.
Let’s make sure that all of our area families are able to celebrate the love and goodwill of this beautiful season.
Pat Edwards is an author and a weekly Chronicle contributor for all things Lorane. She can be contacted at allthingslorane.com.
