Verna Lundquist grew up in Northern Wisconsin in the Westlund family of Swedish immigrant farmers. As an infant she barely survived the Spanish flu. There were six children in the household, and as the eldest daughter, Verna spent many of her school years living with other families and providing domestic help. Sometimes these years were spent with nearby relatives, sometimes with well-to-do families far from her home. The year in Minnesota was especially difficult as she was too far away for visits and she dearly missed her family.

Verna kept up with her schoolwork amidst the moves, and she was pleased to graduate from high school. She worked as a cook for her uncle’s small logging camp and energetically met the challenge of keeping the loggers well fed. She later found work in the Greyhound Bus Station in Ashland, Wisconsin.

There she met a dashing young man, Oscar Lundquist. Soon they were taking their meal breaks together, but the station manager scolded them because he did not want his help fraternizing on the job!
Oscar and Verna married in 1939 and moved to Fargo, North Dakota where Greyhound had moved Oscar’s work.

Oscar scored well on the federal civil service exam and took a job in the nation’s capital, so the young couple traveled east. Verna found work as a cashier in one of the government building cafeterias. She would later recount that she consistently balanced out her register each day to the penny!

Soon Verna tearfully said goodbye to Oscar, off to serve with the Allied Forces in Europe in World War II. After three long years, Verna thankfully welcomed him home and they resumed life in DC. Verna was a devoted wife and soon a doting mother with the arrival of Dennis. Oscar’s work with the Air Force moved the family to Dayton, Ohio where Paul was born and later to Riverside, CA when Donna arrived. She and Oscar jointly embraced the joys and challenges of family life.

Verna was active in living out her faith in her Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. She and Oscar were active church members in each of the cities they lived, serving together as Sunday School and youth program workers, and often pioneering with others in starting new churches and in Eangelistic outreaches.

Verna’s lifelong love of music found expression as well, whether in the choir directing youth choruses, or singing in the Ladies Trio. Verna had taught herself to play piano in her youth and she continued to play throughout her life. Whether accompanying the choirs or alone in her home, she played with flair, her hometrained hands traveling the range of the keyboard with ease.

Verna and Oscar made dear friends in both church and neighborhood wherever they settled. Her hospitality was well known, as the coffee pot remained on and she was quick to have a “lunch” out for someone who stopped by.

They remained active with church and friends as she and Oscar settled into retirement, first in Irvine and later in Riverside at the Olive Grove Retirement Center. Verna was glad to initiate a weekly gospel sing at Olive Grove, and she continued to play piano for the group for several years.

Verna was preceded in death by her dear husband Oscar in 2007 after 67 years of marriage.

She leaves behind her three children and their spouses: Dennis and Karen Lundquist of San Antonio, TX, Paul and Valerie Lundquist of Washington DC, and Donna and Ron Caricchio of Yucca Valley, CA; grandchildren Courtney, Carissa Lundquist, and Tiffany Caricchio; brothers and their spouses Elmer and Marion Westlund; and Hjalmer and Ruth Westlund; and a host of other relatives and friends.

All will miss this loving mother, grandmother, and friend whose devotion to God and love for everyone are an example to us all.

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