Lorraine Margaret Mary Zehr

Lorraine Margaret Mary Zehr (nee Spurney), took her leave from Mother Earth on July 24, 2017. She was a spry 90 years old.

Lorraine was born on February 28, 1927, in Chicago, and always bemoaned the fact that if her wonderful mother, Emily Agnes Spurney, could have just waited one more day, she would only be one-quarter of her ‘real’ age, as she would have been a Leap Year baby.

Lorraine married her first husband, the late James Berg in May of 1950, and shortly thereafter, moved to Barrington from Chicago. She lived in the same house for nearly 65 years, before encroaching health issues caused her to move to Sunrise of Barrington, where the staff treated her like a duchess.

After her divorce, she worked briefly for Quaker Oats, which once had a small facility on Main Street in Barrington and was later hired as a seasonal worker by the Barrington Park District, where she sold seasonal swim passes before becoming the office manager and later the program director for the park, from which she retired.

In the autumn of 1973, she married Robert John Zehr, a kind and gentle man. She met Bob at a social gathering.  They had many contented years together, until Mr. Zehr’s health took a downward turn and he passed away in January of 1988.

Lorraine’s interests included collectibles, crossword puzzles, music, especially Glenn Miller and Johnny Mathis, fishing, and volunteer work for St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church of Barrington. For many years, she visited garage and estate sales throughout the year to purchase toys for ‘The Giving Tree’, a program for underprivileged children who otherwise might not have had much of a Christmas.

While a single Mom, she also became active in Barrington Little League, Knothole Baseball and Cub Scouts.

She also loved to travel to the west and had an affinity for the Black Hills of South Dakota.  At one time, she also did freelance writing, a skill she excelled at.

Lorraine, as she told a health care professional just a few weeks ago, had a ‘favorite’ hobby.  When the advocate was trying to get to know her a bit, she asked Lorraine if she had a hobby she enjoyed.

Without missing a beat, Lorraine leaned into the social worker and said, ‘I love to smoke!’ Indeed.

She was well-known around Barrington for her clever sense of humor and ‘bad’ jokes.

Lorraine had two sisters, Helen Sirovatka and Virginia Moyzis.  Helen passed away in 2004, age 87 and Virginia died on July 2 of this year, at age 96.  Lorraine’s brother, George, a World War II US Army veteran, died in 1989 at age 69.

She is survived by her son, Jeffery (she always insisted that the nuns at the hospital misspelled his name on purpose --‘it was supposed to be JeffREY’!!) and his wife Sarah (Buchanan), of Santa Fe, New Mexico, nieces Kathy (Dwight) Dalton, of Crystal Lake, Jeanne (Joe) Curry of Frisco, TX, Barbara and Margi Sirovatka of Bozeman, MT, a nephew, Michael Moyzis of Frankfort, Il., a grandson Matthew (Megan) Berg of Carpentersville, and great-grandson, Emersen.

Services provided by Davenport Funeral Home of Barrington. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Santa Fe Humane Society and Animal Shelter, 100 Caja del Rio, Santa Fe, NM 87507 or to St. Matthew Lutheran Church, 720 Dundee Ave., Barrington, IL, 60010.

Lorraine would appreciate your support of either.