Lora L. (Martens) Thompson

    Lora Lee Thompson, 87, of Cambridge went to be with her Lord and Savior peacefully on Wednesday, July 6, 2022 at GracePointe Crossing.

    She was born February 28, 1935 in Glasgow, Montana to George and Mary (Bargen) Martens.  At the age of eight, her family moved to St. Paul where she attended school and graduated from Central High School.  Following graduation, she went on to attend Mounds Midway Nursing School and worked as a nurse at Midway Hospital.   Lora attended Hamline University and earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing.

    On July 12, 1956 she was united in marriage to John Stanley Challander in St. Paul.  They made their home in the Midway area and had four children.  In 1967, the family moved to Mundelein, IL.  Lora worked at Condell Memorial Hospital in Libertyville, IL.  John Stanley passed away in 1969.  Lora would go on to work at Trinity College in Deerfield, IL. Lora’s eldest son and Darwin’s eldest son are responsible for getting Lora and Darwin together and after a whirlwind romance, Darwin and Lora were married on March 25, 1972 at Trinity College. Along with Darwin came six more children, so they bought a larger home in Mundelein to raise their 10 children. Lora was a member of Libertyville Evangelical Free Church.  Lora was a nurse at Klingberg’s School in Wauconda, IL until 1978 when the family moved to their farm in Cambridge, MN.  While in Cambridge, Lora worked at Grandview Christian Home and Cambridge Health Care Center and helped on the family farm.  She also worked as a nurse at Minneapolis/St. Paul Post Offices.

    Lora and Darwin started the Dale Free Church in Harris,in 1980, and were also members of Cambridge United Methodist Church and Oxlip Free Church where she was active in the women’s ministry and the church library.  Lora and Darwin went on many mission trips and traveled to seven different countries, including South America, Africa, Singapore, Tonga, Australia and Ukraine. With the help of Pastor and Friend Lee Scheumann, the Pilot Outreach Jail ministries program was started in 1978 where Lora and Darwin would go into local jails to teach the inmates about the Love of God and made lifelong friends with them and their families.

Lora was also involved in United Cursillo ministries.

     Lora volunteered at the nursing homes after retiring from her nursing career, working in the kitchen and taking great pride in putting the GracePointe Crossing Library together.  She enjoyed sewing, putting photo albums together and had quite the collection of hats. 

    Besides her parents, she was preceded in death by her first husband John Stanley Challander, brother George Martens, sister-in-law Jeannie Martens and brother-in-law LeRoy Weiss, and step brother Jerry Upp.

    Lora is survived by her husband Darwin Thompson, children John (Mayerlin) Challander of Cambridge, Greg (Donna) Thompson of Isanti, James (Georgina) Challander of Singapore, Christine (Scott) Lynum of L'Anse, MI, Joel (Lynnea) Challander of Cambridge, Marcia (Mike) Laffey of Circle Pines, JeriAnn (Robert) Walton of Isanti, Rhonda (Steve) Norberg of Isanti, Roxanne (Dalen) Johnson of Circle Pines, P. Scott (Heidi) Thompson of St Francis, 33 grandchildren, 40 great grandchildren, 5 great great grandchildren, sister Sandra Joyce Weiss of Nairobi Kenya Africa, step sister Jan (Daryl) Fast of Minneapolis and step brother Gary (Ellie) Upp of St. Paul, nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.  We’d like to thank GracePointe Crossing NV2 staff for their care and love they showed to our parents while living there.

   Memorial Service 10:30 AM Saturday, August 6, 2022 at Oxlip Evangelical Free Church. Visitation one hour prior with luncheon to follow the service.  Private interment at Fort Snelling. 

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