Lois Lazich of Burlingame, CA, died April 20, 2023, after a short illness. She was 88.

Inez Lois Rude – who went by “Lois” throughout her life – was born Jan. 22, 1935, in Hettinger, ND., to the Rev. E. Leland and Inez Rachel Rude (nee Halvorson). Lois was the third of seven daughters, in a family with no sons. When her father became pastor of St. Olaf Lutheran Church in Devils Lake, ND., Lois moved there with her family. Lois graduated in 1952 from Devils Lake High School, where she was head cheerleader, homecoming queen and class salutatorian. She went on to study at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN., after which she began a career in education.

Teaching jobs took Lois to Jamestown, ND, where she met Robert Lazich, a local radio broadcaster, and they discovered their birthdays were a day apart. They married 6 months later and went on to have three children and three grandchildren in a marriage of 62 years.

After her family’s eventual move to California, she taught at St. Matthew’s Episcopal School in San Mateo from 1973 to 2005, but even after that was asked back occasionally to substitute teach or help students in the library. She also taught at Burlingame Presbyterian Church’s nursery school. Lois was an active member of St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in San Mateo, singing in the choir for decades and performing with the church’s bell choir. She also performed in many plays and musicals with local theater companies, including Peninsula Civic Light Opera and Broadway by the Bay. Lois was a voracious solver of crossword puzzles her entire life, and in her later years became a fan of playing Sudoku and reading mystery novels.

Lois was predeceased by her sisters Solveig Butler and Sheila Sjolund, and grandson Gregory Lazich. She is survived by her husband, Robert; her children Milan Lazich (Jill Fraser), Michael Lazich (Jennifer Tsay) and Mitzi Lazich; grandson Alexander Lazich and granddaughter Ariana Lazich; and sisters Marilyn Johnson, Phyllis McFadden, Alison Swimley, and Garnet Hultgren.

A memorial is planned for May 6, 2023, at 1:30 p.m. PDT at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church, 1501 S. El Camino Real in San Mateo, California.