Remembering Lois Jackson

Lois Jackson, retired UND Department of Engineering staff member, age 92, died Thursday evening, May 11, at the Pembina County Memorial Hospital in Cavalier.

Lois Ann Dunnigan, born to Earl and Ann Dunnigan, grew up on her parents’ farm south of Walhalla, N.D., the youngest of her five brothers and one sister. Upon graduating from Walhalla High School in 1948, Lois attended Aker’s Business School in Grand Forks before beginning her office career at the Grand Forks Clinic. Lois married Lane Jackson at St. Boniface Church in Walhalla on Jan. 8, 1951.

After starting their family in Walhalla, Lane and Lois moved to Grand Forks in 1955 where Lane began his 37 year career at the University of North Dakota’s power plant and Lois worked in the business office at Bill Larson’s Furniture in downtown Grand Forks. She worked at Valley Bank before being lured back to the furniture business as the bookkeeper for Budget Furniture located on South Washington. Lois eventually enrolled as a student at UND, proudly earning an A.A. in business. She retired from UND’s Department of Engineering office in 1991.

Lois and Lane were devout members of St. Mary’s Catholic Church before becoming founding members in 1962 of Holy Family Parish where Lois served as a member of the Altar Society. Their eldest children attended elementary school at both places and then St. James High School until its closure in 1969.

Over the years, Lois and Lane spent as much time (weather permitting) as possible in their South 10th Street yard and gardens. From their Sioux themed patio, they enjoyed cooking out, tending roses and hosting family and neighborhood get-togethers. Lois was proud of her Irish heritage, loved life in Grand Forks (she seemed to know almost everyone) and rooted for UND hockey.

Lois was preceded in death by her husband Lane in October, 2019; her parents; her brothers Leo (Gwen) Dunnigan, Pat (Ruth) Dunnigan, Lorn (Cecelia) Dunnigan, Dr. Ralph (Bernice) Dunnigan, Raymond (Rita) Dunnigan; and her sister Gertrude (Roy) Lundby.

Surviving family members include her son, Harlan (Peggy Knudson) Jackson of Las Cruces, N.M.; her daughters, Kathy (Randy) Cariveau of Rapid City, S.D., and Jody (Gordon) Martin of St. Michael, Minn.; and her eight grandchildren and twelve great grandchildren.

Memorial Mass: 11 a.m. Tuesday, June 20, 2023, in Holy Family Catholic Church, Grand Forks, N.D.

Family Greeting: One hour prior to the liturgy in the church on Tuesday.

Interment: 3 p.m. Tuesday, June 20, 2023, in St. Boniface Catholic Cemetery in Walhalla, N.D.

The online memorial registry may be signed at www.normanfuneral.com.

(The Historic Norman Funeral Home, Grand Forks, ND)