Lucile Lavonne Schomburg Kenning, 92, passed away on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2015, at Sunny Brook Living Care Center in Fairfield with her daughters by her side.
A memorial and celebration of life service will be held on Saturday, May 23, 2015, at 1:30 p.m. at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Latimer. Interment will be in St. Paul's Lutheran Cemetery.
Lucile was born on Nov. 5, 1922, in Hampton, daughter of William and Bertha (Rodemeyer) Schomburg. She fondly remembered growing up on the family farm west of Latimer. She was baptized and confirmed at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Latimer, and her faith was always very important in her life. She graduated from elementary school at St. Paul's Lutheran School, and then went to Latimer High School, where she was an avid player as a guard on the girls' basketball team. After graduation in 1940, she attended Iowa State Teachers College in Cedar Falls to earn her teaching degree. She taught in two one-room schoolhouses in the Latimer area: Maple Grove in Scott Township and Marion Center No. 2.
On March 4, 1944, she married John Joseph Kenning in Waterloo, and they were blessed with two daughters, Janne and Jolene. They resided in Waterloo, Clarion, and Hampton, and in 1962 they moved to Aurora, Colorado. In 1969, Lucile returned to UNI to pursue a degree in library science and became the librarian at the Dows Community School in 1973. She thoroughly enjoyed her job as a school librarian and retired from Dows in 1993.
Throughout her life, her greatest joy was spending time with her daughters, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She loved attending their school and sporting events, and watching them grow. She liked visiting with friends, travelling and crocheting, and enjoyed watching a good basketball game, especially when the girls played six-on-six basketball. She never lost her love of reading and learning new things. There was always a dessert in her house, often cherry pie. And she always liked a nice bowl of ice cream before bed!
Those left to cherish her memory are her daughters, Janne Schwerdt, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, and Jolene Bullis, Fairfield; grandchildren, Christi (Mike) Phillipps, Los Gatos, California; Brooke (Mike) Webster, Evergreen, Colorado: Jenny (Jamen) Weber, Edgewater, Colorado: Tracy Schwerdt, Denver, Colorado: Heather (Derrick) Shaull, Humboldt: and Cody Bullis, Cedar Rapids; great-grandchildren, Nicholas, Lauren, and Eric Phillips, Finnegan and Gibson Webster, Joshua and August Weber, Adrian and Haviana Schwerdt, Quentin Shaull, and Ariah Bullis; brother-in-law Mark Kenning, Richardson, Texas; and numerous nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents; husband; sisters Viola Reineking and Irene Rathmann; brothers Raynor, Louis, Lester, and William Schomburg; niece Savilla Younge, who grew up as a sister with her; and sons-in-law Kerry Schwerdt and Jim Bullis.
