OBITUARIES
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Lillian Locke
Resided in Marquette, MI
Died September 16, 2004
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Lillian Locke, former Marquette resident, died on September 16 at the age of 98, after a long period of residence at the Eastwood Nursing Home in Negaunee. She is predeceased by her husband and older son, both named Edward, also of Marquette.
Mrs. Locke was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on June 30, 1906 and adopted in her infancy by Dr. Harry Lauderdale, a dentist, and his wife, Mabel Hayward Lauderdale, an artist, of Oberlin, Ohio. As a child, Mrs. Locke responded enthusiastically to her parents’ love of literature, art, and music. By the age of 13, she had read over 250 books, some of them twice.
At that time, she met a boy from Maine, Edward Locke, who had recently moved to Oberlin with his mother and older sister. The ensuing friendship was to last for nearly 80 years.
Mrs. Locke remained at home to attend Oberlin College, receiving a bachelor’s and master’s degree in French. Following graduation, she taught that subject in Rochester, New York until her marriage to Mr. Locke in the early 1930s.
Edward and Lillian took up residence in Oak Park, Illinois, where they had their first son, Edward, and later moved to nearby Western Springs, where John was born. The family lived there until the early 1950s, when they moved to Lac du Flambeau, an Indian reservation in Northern Wisconsin, to operate a summer resort on Pokegama Lake.
The move from a sedate village in Illinois to an isolated cabin in Wisconsin was a major upheaval for the Locke family, but it was treated as an adventure. Initially there was no running water or telephone. Twenty-five years later, there were still no neighbors. But Mrs. Locke accepted these changes with grace and wit, and her ability to see the humorous side of things helped ease many difficult times. In winters, she taught at the Lac du Flambeau Federal Indian Day School, and then came home to fish through the ice until dinner.
In 1975, the Lockes retired to Marquette in order to be near their older son, Edward, and his wife, LaVerne Sommers Locke. A great sadness occurred in 1989 when Edward, a forester, died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Mrs. Locke is survived by her remaining son, John, a professor in New York City, two grandchildren, Elizabeth and David, of Stratford, Connecticut and Marquette, and five great grandchildren. In the spring, a memorial service will be held at the First Presbyterian Church of Marquette.
The Fassbender Funeral Home is serving the family.
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