March 23, 2011

Lois Kanatzar

A memorial service was held for Emma “Lois” Wheeler Kanatzar, 86, on Feb. 12, 2011, at Laurelbrook Seventh-day Adventist Church near Dayton, Tenn.
Lois was born a twin on May 7, 1924, in St. John’s, Ore., to Fred E. and Lena Eleanor (Mason) Wheeler while Lena was visiting her own ailing mother.
When Lois was 11 months old, the family returned to Dore, Mont., and the family lived in that area and near Watford City, N.D., until they moved to Tennessee in 1936.
She graduated 8th grade from Kelly Willis School near Ridgetop, Tenn.; attended high school at Fletcher Academy in Fletcher, N.C.; graduated from high school at Madison Academy in Madison, Tenn.; and attended two years of college at Madison College in Madison.
Lois lived in Florida for several years before relocating to California, where she lived for most of her adult life.
On April 2, 1964, Lois was united in marriage to Lloyd Kanatzar in Los Angeles, Calif. She was a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which she attended faithfully wherever she lived.
She was an accomplished artist and painter, a musician, a poet who also loved nature and her pets, and was a voracious reader.
Throughout her life she worked in many different occupations: nurses aide; doctor’s assistant in Labor and Delivery; hospital nursery worker; LVN (Licensed Vocational Nurse); cook and worker in nursing homes, hospitals and boarding homes, and as a home caregiver.
Lois moved back to Tennessee in 2008, where she lived at Laurelbrook Nursing Home in Dayton, until her death on Jan. 26, 2011.
Surviving her are a brother, Ralph (Beverly) Wheeler, of Winterset, Iowa; brother-in-law, Curtis (Evelyn) Morton, of College Park, Ga.; brother-in-law, Alvin Wilson, of Graysville, Tenn.; sister-in-law, Dee Wheeler, of Jay, Okla.; and numerous nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Lloyd Kanatzar; brother and sister-in-law, Art and Jodie Wheeler; sister and brother-in-law, Laura and Ben Falkenhagen; sister, Gladys Morton; twin sister and brother-in-law, Ruth and Wayne Peak; and sister, Alice Wilson.
 

WATFORD CITY WEATHER