Lois K. Harms, 99, went home to be with the Lord Wednesday
morning July 24, 2013, at 1:35.
Born Zella Lois Kliewer on May 9, 1914, in Newton to Frank
J. and Kate (Dalke) Kliewer, Lois was the third of nine children.
Lois moved quite a bit with her family when she was young.
She went to a German school in Saskatchewan, Canada, and several elementary
schools in the U.S. Lois always loved school and learning. She taught herself
how to play the piano, with some help from her mother. She graduated high
school in Newport, Wash., three years early.
After working at a few different jobs after high school,
Lois went to college in 1933 at Bethel College in North Newton. She stayed in
Kansas most of her school career because her job in the finance office at
Bethel only paid enough to pay for her education, not for trips home to
Washington. Lois graduated from Bethel in 1938. Following graduation, she
worked in the business office of the Salem Deaconess Hospital in Salem, Ore.,
where her intended, Frank Harms, was interning as a medical doctor.
Lois and Frank married on Sept. 9, 1940, in Newport, Wash.
Following the ceremony, they traveled to Aberdeen, Idaho, where Frank began his
medical career. Lois was a stay at home wife and mother, although she helped at
the medical office with the books and sometimes as a temporary receptionist.
There were three children born to the Harms' union. Jon Wallace was born in
1941, Mary in 1945, and Helen in 1947. In 1953, the family moved from Aberdeen
to American Falls, Idaho, because the hospital where Frank practiced medicine
was in American Falls.
Lois was an excellent homemaker and cook. She had taken
several college level home economic classes, and she put these to good use. She
sewed many of her daughters' dresses, as well as her own. Lois was one of the
organists for the Aberdeen ID Mennonite Church for many years, as well as a
Sunday school teacher and VBS superintendent. She was a founding member of the
"Hobby Club" in American Falls.
She was a volunteer at the Power County Hospital, a member
of the Power County Hospital Auxiliary, the Southeastern Idaho Medical Auxiliary,
the Idaho Medical Auxiliary, a Toastmistress, a Golden Girl for P.E.O. in 2005
(50 year member), a member of the Newton Treble Clef Club and RSVP of Newton.
She served as officer in most of the clubs and auxiliaries to which she
belonged. In 1979 she was honored as First Lady of the Year in American Falls.
She was a member of Grace Community Church in Newton.
Lois is survived by her daughters, Mary (Roy) Aguirre of
Kodiak, Alaska, and Helen (Lee) Wall of Newton; seven grandchildren; and eight
great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her son, Jon, in 1977, and her
husband of 40 years, Frank, in 1981, and by several sisters and a brother.
Lois' ashes will be buried in the Mennonite Cemetery in
Idaho beside those of her beloved husband and son. Memorials may be contributed
to Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice, Presbyterian Manor, or Grace Community Church.
A celebration service commemorating Lois' life will be held
at Grace Community Church, Tuesday, July 30, 2013, at 11 a.m.
