Lorene Lovretich Obituary

Lorene Ardell Lovretich

April 23, 1922 - March 22, 2015

Lorene Ardell Lovretich passed away early on the morning of March 22nd, just one month shy of her 93rd birthday, at her home in Salem, Oregon, with her son Tom, her lone care giver for the past few years.

Lorene was born on April 23rd, 1922 in Milton-Freewater, Oregon to Walter Robert and Mary Belle (Thibodo) Bitney and lived there on the family farm through her high school graduation from Mac High and subsequent business college. Shortly after having nursed her mother through her final illness, she moved to Portland where she finished raising her younger brother Walt, age 9, on her own.

On June 6, 1952, Lorene and J. Nick Lovretich were married in Portland and had two sons, Nick and Tom. The family lived in Portland and Sacramento, Calif., before moving to Salem where Lorene continued to live until her death.

Very active in church, civic, and legislative groups, Lorene packed a great deal of living into each day and left her mark in many ways and on many people. For over 30 years, she worked as a secretary in the Legislature, for L.B. Day, Keith Burbidge, Mike Fahey, and May Yee. Lorene finished up at the Legislature in her 80's at the information desk outside the Senate chambers. During her many years there, Lorene was always the first one there when a cake was needed or a plate of hors d'oeuvres called for. She made a mouth-watering pecan pie and had perfected her now famous baklava.

For many years Lorene volunteered with the St. Francis Shelter, which she originally founded with a few others, finding homes for low-income area residents and then doing follow-up to ensure that their needs continued to be met. Lorene was very active in the Queen of Peace family, holding various positions within the church and giving generously of her time and talents throughout the years.

Lorene had been active with the Red Cross organization for most of her adult life, making thousands of calls to urge people to come out and donate blood. Lorene was lauded a few years back for her extraordinary 25+ gallons of blood that she gave and her achievement was written up in the Statesman Journal.

Lorene is survived by her sons, Nick Lovretich of Hawaii and Tom Lovretich of Salem; two granddaughters, Nicole Slominski of Hawaii and Kelsey MacComber of West Virginia, as well as great-grandchildren Elijah, 13, Sophia, 4, and Sonia, 10 months.

Lorene is also survived by special nieces, Marilyn Espinoza of San Francisco, Sherrie Grace of Calgary, Alberta and Colleen McCoy of Kennewick, Washington, as well as many other extended family members and life-long friends.

Lorene was preceded in death by her husband of 34 years, Nick, who died on Aug. 19, 1986. She was also preceded in death by her parents and by all four of her siblings, Maxine Glantz of Salem, Don Bitney of Baker, and Walter Darrel of Albany.

Time after time this wife, mother, sister, aunt and friend stepped up to the plate, got the job done, and made it all turn out alright. She will be greatly missed.

A Memorial Mass will be held at 11:00 AM on Saturday, March 28 at Queen of Peace Catholic Church. Assisting the family is Virgil T. Golden Funeral Service.