Loraine Valloy (Nelson) Fisher

 Loraine Valloy Nelson Fisher, 4 April 1927 – 28 March 2021

On a fine spring day, April 4th, 1927, Loraine Valloy Nelson was born to Loran Crouch Nelson and Fanny Isabelle Law in Cardston, Alberta.  She was their first child.  It was a happy day for them.  Over time she became the big sister to Mary, Nola, Robert, Shauna and Vaughn. They were a big part of her life.  She returned peacefully to her heavenly home March 28th, 2021, one week short of her 94th birthday.

Her first years were lived mostly in Glenwood where she lived around and played with lots of her Nelson and Law cousins. They were her best friends for life. 

When she was eight, Loraine and the other eight-year-olds in her church ward were taken to the Cardston Alberta Temple where they were all baptized.  

Loraine loved being outdoors.  She climbed trees, ran, picked wildflowers from the hills around her home.

One summer night when Loraine was 11 and her teacher father was away in Edmonton marking school exams, their house burned down. Everyone was asleep when the fire started in the back kitchen, burned up the wall and went into the ceiling over their heads.  Fanny woke up just in time to rush Loraine and baby Bob outside to safety.  Then she went back into the burning house in time to rescue Mary and Nola.

Eighty years later she would have another fire in her home.  The Lethbridge apartment building where she lived caught on fire right across the hall from her suite.  Again, she got out safely.  She was displaced again, this time for 18 months.  It was another near tragedy but another miracle that her life was spared.   

When she was about 13, Loraine's father suffered a ruptured appendix.  While he was in the hospital, Loraine was asked to go ask a neighbor boy, Frank Fisher, who was 6 years older than she was, if he could milk the Nelson's cows until her father got well.  He was glad to help and did that job for several months.  He got well-acquainted with Loraine.

Later, Loraine was asked to get some milk from the Fisher's.  Frank helped her carry it home.  When they arrived at her back door, he asked if he could kiss her. She smiled, so he kissed her then quickly ran off home. It was the start of a wonderful friendship and sweet romance.

In 1940, Frank joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in World War II. He served in Canada for about 2 years, then was posted to England. Before he left for England, he proposed to her and asked if she would wait for him. She waited two and a half years.

Frank returned from the War after serving as a bomber pilot and pilot trainer.  He had a little talk with Loran Nelson and asked his permission to marry Loraine. With that permission, Frank bought a diamond ring and on bended knee proposed to Loraine again.  She said "Yes" and on April 18, 1946, they were married in the Cardston Alberta Temple.  Over the years they were blessed with children Gregory, Melanie, Paul, Mary Jayne, Loran and Rob.

When she was in Grade 11, Loraine got really sick. Nobody knew what was wrong with her, but she couldn't walk and couldn't finish school.  Many years later, other doctors determined she had had Polio. She still suffered from the effects of Polio later in life.  It was probably Polio that brought the need for serious back surgery.  It kept her in hospital in Calgary for three months, strapped to a special bed.  She couldn't move.  When she returned home, she wore a back brace and couldn't do much work.  Son Rob was just a baby then and he spent a long time staying with Uncle and Aunt Dick and Mary Chipman.  Loraine survived a heart attack when she was about 47.  She had knee surgery at 73.  And, of course, a final heart attack at almost 94.

Loraine saw many changes over her life.  When she was young very few people owned cars. Later, she took her first driver's license test driving a school bus.  The family home got water from an outside pump.  Summer baths were taken in an irrigation ditch.  Winter baths were in a tub in the kitchen.  The stove burned coal. Laundry was dried outside in the wind.  The bathroom was an outhouse.  There was the Great Depression, the Polio pandemic, and World War II.  By 1961 when the family moved into Lethbridge, they built a new house with indoor plumbing, carpeting, forced air furnace, washer and dryer, and electric stove.

Loraine enjoyed writing and memorizing poetry, recitation and elocution. She loved dancing and performing in community plays.

Loraine liked to sell things to add to the family income.  Over the years she sold Tupperware, cosmetics, mixers, and dietary supplements. 

She enjoyed crocheting, sewing, making quilts and crafts and giving many of her creations away. She loved special occasions and would make lots of food and decorations to celebrate with her family.  She loved her siblings, children and grandchildren and attending their special events such as baby blessings, baptisms, weddings, mission farewells and homecomings, and graduations. It was disappointing to her when she couldn't travel as easily to attend these family events.  

She was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served in many Church callings including teacher in Sunday School, Primary, Young Women, and Relief Society.  She was Relief Society President, Home Making Leader, Nursery Leader and Dance Director.  One of her greatest dreams was fulfilled when she and Frank accepted a mission call to serve a Family History Mission in Salt Lake City. They spent most of their time in the Granite Mountain Vault where the records are preserved and stored. When she got to the vault, she remembered seeing it in a recurring dream, a testimony that this was where they should serve.

She loved to go to the Temple in Cardston and Salt Lake City.  It was a sad day for her when age and infirmity meant she couldn't go as often.  She was a covenant woman who tried to teach her family to love God and become more like Christ. 

She was preceded in death by her husband Frank Fisher, parents Loran and Fanny Nelson, in-laws Franklin Peirce and Sarah Fisher, sisters Mary Chipman and Nola Clark, son Gregory, and granddaughters Angela Seely and Jennifer Harker.

Loraine is survived by her siblings Robert (Kay) Nelson, Vaughn (Lourdes) Nelson, and Shauna (Rick) Humphreys, as well as her daughter-in-law Sydney, daughter Melanie (Bruce) Seely, son Paul (RoseAnn) Fisher, daughter Mary Jayne Harker, and sons Loran (Lorelei) Fisher, and Robert (Julie) Fisher. She leaves behind 25 grandchildren, 43 great grandchildren, and 2 great-great grandchildren."

The family is grateful to the medical staff at the Lethbridge Regional Hospital for the kind, considerate and professional care they provided during Loraine's final days.

Friends are invited to meet the family on Friday April 2, 2021 from 7:00 to 8:00 pm, at SALMON AND SONS FUNERAL HOME, 433 Stubb Ross Road South, Lethbridge. Please contact Salmon and Sons Funeral Home if you plan on attending the Viewing. Masks are mandatory.

A Private Funeral Service will be held on Saturday April 3, 2021 at 10:00 am, to view the livestream a link will be provided prior to the service on this obituary.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Loraine Valloy (Nelson) Fisher, please visit our floral store.