Lusetta (Schrunk) Alton - grandma 95 8/29/1913 2/26/2009

The Lord chose to take our dear mother, grandmother home on Feb. 26, 2009. She was preceded in death by her husband of 60 years, Elvin Alton. She is survived by all five of her children, Duane Alton of Spokane, Ardyce Alton of Oakland, Calif., Lavern Alton of Walnut Creek, Calif., Gary Alton of Hillsboro and Marlene (Alton) Jenson of Los Angeles; numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren, plus untold numbers who just adopted her as their grandma. She literally became the grandma to everyone who knew or visited her. She was born on a farm east of Atkinson, Neb., to John and Mabel Schrunk on Aug. 29, 1913. She was child number eight from a family of 12. Two sisters survive her, Pearl Moore of Neligh, Neb., and Lois Ries of Carthage, Mo. Elvin and Lusetta operated a cream station in Atkinson, Neb., for a number of years. Mom, "Grandma Alton" was world renowned among family and friends when it came to cooking and baking homemade bread, cinnamon rolls, chicken and noodles, strawberry jam, cookies, cakes, pies, etc. Grandma did not use mixes or recipes, just measuring cups or spoons, some of this, some of that, a dash of this, or liquid poured directly from the container. That was the "Grandma Alton" way of cooking. She enjoyed doing the cooking for her church's youth camps, her children, grandchildren, friends and neighbors. Visiting mom was always good for homemade bread or cinnamon rolls. We all enjoyed being the first to her home to scarf down the most recent of her fabulous cooking, always hoping that we got there first so we could gorge ourselves and prevent the weight gain on the next visiting relative or the one that arrived shortly after the first to arrive. How mom enjoyed that. We all can still hear her hearty laugh, full of joy, happiness and so very pleased that her loved ones showed their appreciation for her cooking. Her voice had that mid-western twang and became easily recognizable in a crowd of strangers or among friends. In her later years she made radio and TV commercials. Everyone who heard her immediately identified with her as their own grandma. What a kick she got out of having someone recognize her at the airport, or in an airplane just by the sound of her voice. Mom enjoyed her church and her fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. She had many friends in her church that prayed for her and visited her. She renewed her last drivers license at age 93. She sounded like a little kid as she told everyone she got her new drivers license. Mom really enjoyed telling the stories of her childhood, family times, ghost lights, and it seemed that the same stories never grew old. They were as vibrant and new as when we heard them the first time, only with a few more adjectives and adverbs which help to embellish and make the stories more interesting. She was a regular at the Church of Christ Restored in Vancouver, Wash. She really felt bad if she missed a Sunday of attendance and really enjoyed her many friends. One of the passages she liked having read to her as she approached the end was 1 John 5:11-13. "And this is the record that God has given us eternal life and this life is in His Son and only in His Son. He who has the son has life he who does not have the Son of God does not have life, these things I write unto you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life." Mom, grandmother, aunt, sister, friend, we will miss you. We count it a favor that God has blessed us by having you among us. We don't say goodbye, you will ever be in our hearts; we'll see you later when we share the laughs and retell the stories over and over again for all eternity. Memorial service 11 a.m. Tuesday, March 3, at Lincoln Memorial Park, 11801 SE Mount Scott Blvd, Portland, OR 97266. In lieu of gifts or flowers, please make a charitable donation to Church of Christ Restored, PO Box 41, Vancouver WA, 98685.
Published in The Oregonian on 3/1/2009