Rosemary Lighthall

Rosemary Lighthall, 94, formerly of Lawton, died on Nov. 19, 2016, at The Shores in Pleasant Hill, Iowa.
Memorial services to honor and remember Rosemary will be 2 p.m. Wednesday at Lawton Community Presbyterian Church. Interment will be in Banner Township Cemetery, Lawton. Visitation with the family will be 1 p.m. until service time Wednesday at the church. Arrangements are under the direction of Morningside Chapel, Christy-Smith Funeral Home in Sioux City.
Rosemary was born on Feb. 5, 1922, to Hannah and Nels Thomsen. She grew up in the Cumberland area and following high school graduation in Atlantic, she attended Iowa Normal School (now UNI) in Cedar Falls, obtaining a two-year teaching degree in 1941.
Her first teaching job was in Lawton, where she met and married Lloyd Lighthall on Oct. 6, 1944. They made their home in the Lawton area and raised four children. She later earned a four-year bachelor's degree from Morningside College in 1972.
Rosemary taught fifth grade for years, especially enjoying teaching science and math and was herself a life-long learner. She loved experiencing nature and growing flowers, was a talented quilter and seamstress, enjoyed playing the piano, and spent many evenings star gazing. She wrote in a journal every day of her life, until her memory began to fade.
She and Lloyd enjoyed traveling to visit their children in Iowa, Michigan, Texas, New York state, and California. They traveled to Europe twice and toured the southern United States. Their love of nature took them to the National Wildlife Federation summits in Estes Park, Colo., annually.
Her surviving family includes her brother, Ernest (Karen) Thomsen; two daughters, Susan (Mark) Ackelson, and Joyce (Randy) Howard; a daughter-in-law, Mina Lighthall; five grandchildren, Laura (John) Christiansen, Jill (Robert) Carico, Christina (Steve) Ahrendsen, Shaun (Renee) Howard, and Brian Howard; and six great-grandchildren, Mason and Kamden Carico, Brynner and Arryn Christiansen, and Georgia and Baylor Ahrendsen.
Rosemary was preceded in death by her parents; daughter, Linda Robinson in December 1998; her husband, Lloyd in October 2010; and her son, David in September 2015.
The family would like to thank the staff of The Shores in Pleasant Hill for their consistent loving care of Rosemary over the last six years and the staff and volunteers of Hospice for caring for her in her last two months of life.
Memorial contributions may be directed to HCI Care Services, 2910 Westown Parkway, Suite 200, West Des Moines, IA 50266-1332.