Lois Stanton
January 24, 1941 — October 13, 2016
Lois M. Stanton, 75, died Oct. 13, 2016, at Gothenburg Health. She was born Jan. 24, 1941 in Gothenburg to Esther (Still) and Paul Stanton, their only child. Her childhood and much of her adult life were spent in Gothenburg. After graduating from Gothenburg High School in 1959 she attended the University of Nebraska taking art classes, later studying at the Art Institute in Chicago. She earned an associate of applied science degree from the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture at Curtis in May, 1986.
Stanton also lived in Lincoln, Illinois, Washington D.C., Arkansas and California. Her many occupations include bookkeeper for her father’s Stanton Maytag appliance store, painter-wallpaperer, justice of the peace, rural mail carrier, truck stop cashier and analyst at Super Nutrition USA in San Francisco.
Strong willed, passionate and talented, Stanton was an artist (though she would always deny it) and a superb photographer (though she would always deny it). Active for many years in the Gothenburg Community Playhouse, Stanton had the lead in “The Little Hut.” An avid reader with eclectic tastes, she was a fan of C-Span and working Sudoku puzzles for hours on end. A student of the Bible, she also practiced yoga in her younger years.
Conversations with Stanton were insightful, delightful and full of adventure. Her photographic memory could recall the smallest of details.
A mystic sometimes even to those closest to her, Stanton rarely asked anything of anyone yet was generous with others. She always took time for, and interest in, people and animals. She held true to her convictions and stewardships, a connoisseur of fine food yet scarce to indulge.
Forever a champion of the unfortunate, human and non-human species, she nurtured hundreds if not thousands of abandoned felines throughout her life. To those who knew her intimately, Stanton was a remarkable person, who shall remain enigmatic to those who were touched by her presence.
Survivors include cousins Dale Stanton of Orlando, FL; Roger Stanton of Prairie Village, KS; Peggy Law of Salt Lake City UT, and Barbara Heier of Wayne, NE; children of former husband Patrick Mooney: Kathy Mooney, Kim Mooney and Michael Mooney; former husband, Robert Schmoker of Arkansas; and a host of devoted and loving friends. She was preceded in death by her mother in 1981, father in 1988 and first husband Patrick Mooney in 2013.
Memorial services will be held at First United Methodist Church, 1401 Lake Ave, Gothenburg, NE on Monday, October 31, 2016 at 1:00 pm with Rev. Jill Boyd officiating. Inurnment will follow in the Gothenburg Cemetery next to her parents. In lieu of flowers memorials are suggested to Paw Prints in Dawson County; P.O. Box 21; Cozad, NE 69130.