Obituary of Lois A. Rediske

LOIS ANNABELLE REDISKE "Look for the little red-haired girl," she whispered with a kiss on the morning of July 16th, as she said not "goodbye" but "look for me" to her husband of nearly 78 years as he was taken away. Lois Annabelle Rediske was born in Yakima, on July 6, 1923, to Mary Magdelene (Hanna) and Hallard Clyde Thomas. Hallard was a widower with two children, Delbert and Dorothy (Dottie); and Mary was what was delicately referred to as a spinster, recently arrived from Kansas. Almost ten years later, Lois' younger sister Carol was born. Lois grew up in Yakima and one evening attended a grange dance. Standing across the room, with her back to the dance floor, our father Art always said he fell in love with her beautiful auburn hair. He wrangled an introduction and that was that! They married on September 6, 1942. With another couple, their first venture was a road trip to New York City where both men had waiting jobs. Left to herself all day in a multi-story, multi-cultural apartment building in Queens, while Art worked at Pan American Airlines, she suffered from homesickness and wrote long letters to her mother. Their first child was born in NY. Later she and the toddler stayed in Yakima with her parents while Art served in Kodiak, Alaska in the Navel Reserves. After the war they moved to Seattle, Art worked for Boeing and they welcomed their second child. Taking his work experience with them, their move to Richland would prove to be a place where they put down deep and stable roots, spending 60 years, to the very month they first moved in, in the same Ranch house across from Spaulding School. Only the second family in the home, they were greeting by a bar of Ivory Soap in a pink depression glass bowl. We still have the bowl! Piles of sand, instead of lawns, no sidewalks or gutters, no trees, they helped to turn this company town into a real American city. Art worked at Hanford and Lois was a homemaker, but her sense of adventure led to various pursuits. She was a very early and long time member of Allied Arts Association as both a painter and a potter. She exhibited in the Clothesline shows held at Richland's Uptown Shopping Center where the artwork was, literally, hung on clothesline strung among the buildings. Later the group held shows in conjunction with Atomic Frontier Days and The Water Follies calling the events, Art in the Park, in Howard Amon Park. Art built her an outdoor Raku kiln in the backyard and family and friends were treated to wonderful "reveal" parties as pieces came out of the ashes. Clad in a bright yellow shirt, embroidered in black with a beehive and "Joe Holt's Honey" on the back, she and the other "gals" bowled at Atomic Lanes in a Women's League, and enjoyed the slightly risque double entendre of being a "honey." Long time members of Richland Lutheran Church; she sang alto in the choir. Art was a deacon and an Explorer Scout leader and they both taught Sunday School. They had a small tight knit circle of other couples as friends. For several years they rented the grange hall and held a New Year's "bash." When the families moved away, or back to where they had come from, Summer reunion potluck picnics were held in Howard Amon Park. Sewing an entire fashionable modern travel wardrobe and embarking on a European tour with a friend, and, always willing to take risks, she photographed everything, hoping that those once in a lifetime shots would come out all right. With her artistic eye, most of her slides were breathtaking and she went on to give talks and slide presentations at the children's schools for several years. During all this whirl of activity their third and fourth children were born, a package deal of two at once. A surprise and delight that caused them to make use of Sear's "twin insurance" promotion which got them a free second layette. In later years, with everyone grown, married, and out of the house, and all living on the west side of the state, we began a campaign to get them to move closer. She dug in her heels, reluctant to leave her home and her friends, but finally relented when most of the friends were gone and age and health began to catch up with them. First in a rental house in Olympia and then in a small apartment at Brookdale in Olympia, they continued to be a tandem team. He was "Squirrel" and she was "Wabbit." They had a large anniversary party for their 75th and some gatherings for milestone birthdays, always drawing children and their spouses, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and the spouses of those as well. A cascade of medical problems found her family unprepared, anxious, and hopeful, but she slipped away on September 12, 2020, not quite two months after her "Squirrel." We know she went to find him. Please see Arthur Clair Rediske's obituary on this site for the "precedes" and "leaves behind" information.