A funeral has been scheduled for Saturday, June 6, for Esther “Lorraine” Steines of Wayland, who died Thursday, Feb. 5. She was 97.
She was born Oct. 23, 1928, on a farm in Gobles, to Herman and Eunice Woodhams. She was called Lorraine because her mother was called by her middle name, which was Esther.
Lorraine was preceded in death by her husband, Walter Steines, of Wayland. She is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Alan and Sherry (Oliva) Steines of Connecticut; daughter and son-in-law, Lois and Gordie Nickels of Byron Center; six grandchildren Alexis Steines (Sean Rao) of Virginia, David Steines (Aly) of Maine, and Christopher Steines (Wendy) of Connecticut, Lindsey Nickels of Byron Center, Sarah Nickels of Byron Center, and Jillian (Nickels) Boyd (Eric) of Clinton Township, Michigan; and five great-grandchildren, Matilda Steines, Eleanor Steines, Elias Rao, Jasper Rao, and Addilynn Boyd. She is also survived by her cousin, Fred Woodhams (MaryLee) of Howell; as well as a plethora of nieces and nephews.
Lorraine was married Aug. 29, 1953, in the Merson Church in Gobles, to Walter C. Steines, Jr. of Glencoe, Mo., and then of Wayland. They were married for 20 years until his death in 1973.
After graduation from high school, she attended Allegan County Normal and started teaching at the Harper School in Trowbridge Township. She taught grades K-8 in a one-room school. After marriage, she and Walt moved to Wayland where he worked for Pet Milk Company and she worked for Kessler, sewing baby clothes.
They built a house east of town in 1958 and started a family. Lorraine and Walt maintained a large garden. Lorraine canned or froze all of the vegetables and fruits that would be eaten throughout the year.
From the beginning of their marriage, Lorraine took courses from Western Michigan University in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree in education, which she attained in 1973. Upon receipt of her degree, she taught at Dorr Elementary School, retiring in 1988.
Lorraine traveled widely. to Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. She spent time in each state of the union.
Lorraine was the family’s gold standard in the fiber arts. She sewed wedding dresses, men’s suits, and many of the dresses that she wore. Up until the last year of her life, she was in demand for her Christmas stockings and hanging dish towels.
Lorraine was also a gamer. She played weekly Euchre and Yahtzee games online with her family, and she was known to play mean games of Uno, Skip-Bo, and Rummikub. She learned to play golf in her late 50s, and played well into her 70s. She claimed to have scored a birdie, but on investigation, it turned out that one of her shots hit a bird.
She spent time watching the Tigers, Lions, Wolverines and Spartans on television for whatever sport they were playing at the time.
Lorraine was a Christian who lived a full life, served her community and church in many unassuming ways.
The service will be held at the United Methodist Church, 200 N. Church St., with visitation planned for 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. with the celebration of life at 11 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Christian Neighbors, 122 Church St., Wayland.
