Lois M. Sullivan

Lois Sullivan of Preston, Iowa passed away Friday, December 16 at age 90. Memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, December 21, at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Preston. Visitation will be from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, December 20, at the Law Jones Funeral Home in Preston, as well as one hour prior to the service at the church. In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund has been established.

Lois Mary Asmussen was born July 26, 1932 in Clinton, Iowa to Carl and Mildred (Schmidt) Asmussen. She was the oldest of five siblings. She married Harold Sullivan on August 27, 1950 at St. John's Lutheran Church in Preston, Iowa. She and Harold raised five children on their farm near Green Island, which in 1976 was among the first recognized as an Iowa Century Farm.

Lois was known throughout her life as a welcoming and gracious host to friends, family, and anyone else who showed up at the door, including occasional dogs and cats. Her home was the site of dozens of Christmas gatherings, thousands of Scooby snacks, and countless memories made across three generations of kids at the farm - picking apples, shelling peas, snapping beans, and looking at stars on the basketball court.

She was an avid gardener, frequently taking time to stop and smell the fresh dill and other herbs she grew even after she moved to Preston. In her early years she enjoyed crochet, with some of her decades-old blankets still being used today. Her homemade applesauce and pumpkin bars were hot commodities, which will live on through entries in church cookbooks. She was remarkably tech-savvy, a relatively early adopter of the internet who used her computer and iPad to keep in touch with her loved ones and track local news in the towns her people were living in.

Lois was preceded in death by her husband Harold, her parents, sister Lola, and a grandson Andrew. She is survived by five children, Sheila (Les) Godard of Preston, Scott (Penny) Sullivan of Preston, Ken (Sheri) Sullivan of Polk City, IA, Jane (Dave) Montford of Davenport, IA, and Jeff (Donna) Sullivan of Iowa City, IA; 14 grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren, and three siblings, Caryl Beck of Goose Lake, IA, Charlene Johnson of Maquoketa, IA, and Bruce Asmussen of Camanche, IA. Serving as honorary pallbearers will be Seth Godard, James Sullivan, Emily Feldman, Matthew Montford, Nate Sullivan, Adam Sullivan, and Alex Sullivan.

She was an Iowa farmer's wife with a can-do attitude, a calming presence, and a stoic spirit: "It'll be better before you're married," "Bored people are boring people," and "Quit bellowing, you'll wake the cows," she might tell you if you were fussing.

But of all Lois's bits of wisdom and phrases, her family will best remember this phrase often whispered into the ears of her grandchildren and great grandchildren: "Don't forget I love you, okay?"

We will never forget.