Louise was born on July 12, 1930 in Rupert, ID, the eldest of 3 sisters. She lived in a rural area where agriculture abounded. It was there she learned the art of tending plants, which later became her passion.

After the family moved to Hayward, they raised chickens and opened a family restaurant on Mission Boulevard. Louise would come home from school and play the piano instead of going straight to the restaurant to help. She caught trouble for that.

She and Edward met through a neighbor and shortly after married. They had five children, Margret, Steve, Bob, Will, Jim and Rick. Louise would say “if you put one chicken on the dinner table, they’ll eat one chicken. If you put two on the table, they’ll eat two.” Louise knew how to stretch the budget and there was never a hungry stomach.

Louise was well liked by the friends she met while singing in the choir and joining a crochet/knit group called the Knitwits. She had a talent for crafts and decorating for any occasion. At Christmas, the tree sparkled with lights and handmade, beaded ornaments. Each person would receive a handmade present from her as well. On New Year’s eve, the tree would be decorated with balloons and streamers to welcome the new year.

The shelves in the family room were lined with cookie jars she had collected, mostly from garage sales. Some of them went back to earlier times and were unique or valuable.

As grandchildren came, she and Ed would labor for months building dollhouses for each of the girls. Louise was especially good at recognizing everyday items like bottle caps and toothpaste caps as items that could be used in the dollhouse. These were a labor of love treasured by each of the grandgirls.

Louise is survived by her sister Cecelia, 6 children, 11 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her sister, Beatrice and grandson, Nathan.

Viewing will be held at Grissom’s Chapel & Mortuary, 267 E. Lewelling Blvd. in San Lorenzo on August 3, from 5-8 pm. Vigil will be held at 6:00 pm
Funeral Mass will be held at St. John’s church on August 4 at 10:30 am