Lois has an adventurous soul with big dreams, but at the age of 93, she is limited to the amount of activity her body is able to endure. Growing up with a troubling childhood, she has reinvented herself for her family and remains a strong, courageous woman. During WWII, Lois raised her family and worked as a messenger for the Navy in San Francisco. Since the Golden Gate City holds such a special place in her heart, Lois submitted the Wish of seeing the city she loves from an aerial view. On July 25th, 2015, Wish of a Lifetime granted Lois a helicopter ride along the beautiful bay of San Francisco to fulfill her dreams.
Being one of seven kids, Lois had a poverty stricken upraising with a multitude of struggles in a town 30 miles outside of Portland. In 1939, her father built a shack in the woods with no water or electricity. The shack had very limited space, where all seven kids and parents slept in a single bedroom. Before her father dug a well to provide clean water, Lois would get a wheelbarrow and haul water from the neighbor’s house 0.5 miles away. Eventually, her father built more rooms for the comfort of his family. Lois moved out of the shack at 18 years old when she graduated high school.
At 18, she moved to San Francisco where she married a man in the Army, which eventually jumpstarted her work in the Navy as a messenger girl during WWII. Aside from her job, she had four children with her husband. As years passed, two of her sons passed away, as well as her husband. Lois has a heartbreaking past, but she still looks to the future with adventure in her eyes. She currently serves as a librarian, teaches exercise classes five times a week, serves as a council secretary and volunteers with Christmas for Seniors and Veterans. Wish of Lifetime was happy to grant Lois her Wish of flying across San Francisco with her grandson, David, to see the world she loves from a different perspective.
“My daughter and family go skydiving and other exciting things that I cannot do because they don’t want me to get hurt. I want to do something great while I’m still alive!”
Special thanks to Harry Who Photography for capturing this special experience.