Lois Olive Houg

Lois Olive Houg was born to Paul and Gertrude (Chamberlain) Cunningham on
February 24, 1924, on the Cunningham historic family farm in Sweet Township,
Pipestone County. She was the third of six children.
She attended country school on their section, and graduated from Pipestone High
School in 1942. During World War II, Lois worked in the Twin Cities wiring bomber planes. She also worked as a telephone operator and in the Honeywell plant, wiring thermostats. She
showed an aptitude for fixing mechanical devices, both around the house and on the farm.

She married Morris Houg, December 27, 1951. They made their home on a farm
Southeast of Jasper for many years. In 1971, they moved to the farm where Morris was
born. She was an excellent mother, devoting herself unselfishly to her four children and
her husband.

A successful 4-Her herself, Lois helped her kids and their club with many activities. She
and Morris enjoyed traveling to visit her sisters, “out west”, as well as to Hawaii, where
her aunt lived, to Canada, where Ellie had made friends on a 4-H trip, to the Twin cities
to see relatives and support their kids when they won trips to the Minnesota State Fair.
They spent over 20 years wintering in Texas, where they made many friends.
Lois enjoyed reading, and saved lots of clippings from newspapers, ranging from
household and marriage hints to whenever one of the family would get their name in the
paper.

Lois was a member of the Jasper Evangelical Lutheran Church. She helped with
funerals and attended circle meetings. She also volunteered at Good Sam in
Pipestone. Lois was very friendly and outgoing, and enjoyed visiting with friends and
family in person and on the phone. She was intelligent, thoughtful, and a great
conversationalist. That made it especially sad that her memory diminished so much in
her later years.

In January of 2012, Lois and Morris moved to Sunrise Village in Jasper. In November of
2013, she became a resident of Good Samaritan in Pipestone. She was moved to
Riverview Healthcare Community in Flandreau, SD, in May of 2016. She died in Avera
Flandreau Hospital on Sunday, May 14, 2017, at the age of 93 years, 2 months and 20
days.

Lois is lovingly remembered by her family; including her children, Dale (Gayle) Houg of
Deerfield, Illinois, Eloise (Dale) DeBeer of Sioux Falls, and Curtis (Lisa) Houg of Jasper;
a sister, Grace Halverson of DeSmet, SD., and nine grandchildren, Matt and David
DeBeer of Sioux Falls, Steven Houg of Chicago, Andrea Houg of Grand Rapids, MI,
Allison Houg of Sioux Falls, Ryan Houg of Jasper, Adam Houg of Sherman, SD, Lauren
Houg of Brookings, and Kirsten Houg, of Jasper. She was preceded in death by her husband , Morris, a son, Gerald Houg, her brothers, Lawrence and Charles Cunningham, and two sisters, Jean Hamm and Doris Daum.