Mabel Lough Pankratz, age 96, died on Thursday, December 17, 2015, at Larksfield Place in Wichita, Kansas.
Sarah Mabel Lough was born in Burlington, Colorado on July 27, 1919, to Nicholas and Katherine (Schultz) Lough. When she was very young, her father died of a terminal illness when the family was living in Almena, Kansas. Mabel, and her brother, Charles, moved with their mother and stepfather to Denver, Colorado. In 1931, in the depths of the Great Depression, Mabel, Charles and their baby sister, Velda, lost their mother. Mabel and her brother were taken to Mountain Lake, Minnesota in March 1931. Initially, they were taken in by their aunt, Mrs. (Helena) H. H. Quiring. Helena and her husband, Reverend Henry H. Quiring, had eight children and found it difficult to support these two orphans.
Mabel found room and board “wherever a baby needed to be diapered, cows needed to be milked or clothes needed to be washed and ironed.”
She attended country school in Mountain Lake Township, the Mountain Lake German School and finished high school at Mountain Lake Public School.
She had a strong calling to become a nurse. The $200 needed for tuition was not available to her, and she never attended classes beyond high school. Following high school graduation, she worked as a nanny in the Lake Harriet area of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Then she lived in the Bethel Hospital nurse’s home and worked as a nurses’ aide at the hospital in Mountain Lake.
In September 1941, she and John J. Pankratz were married in Mountain Lake. They raised three children, Steve, David and Carol on the family farm.
Her husband, John, died in 1979. Mabel was a widow for 36 years.
In 1952, Mabel was diagnosed with cancer. With determination, excellent medical attention and a devout dedication to her faith, she was a 63-year cancer survivor.
Following John’s death, Mabel remained living in Glendale, Arizona until 2005, when she moved to Pratt, Kansas and later to Wichita.
Mabel is survived by her children, Steve (Sharon), David (Laura) and Carol (Jim) Ray; her grandchildren, Rachel (Tim Hallacy), Lisa (Scott Dooley), Matt (Michelle Roth) Pankratz, Stefani, Erika Pankratz, Talia Pankratz (Dan) Connell and Jonathan Ray; step-grandchildren, Michelle (Brad) Ernt and Brian (Kim) Sommer and James and Hillary Ray; 14 great-grandchildren and her sister, Velda Johnson.
Mabel met many challenges. Her family is grateful for her example of living a long life of victorious survival.
This might have been Dad and Mom’s song:
How she could sing The Wildwood Flower, the orphan girl that he had loved so long.
In the end he knew she’s been his finest hour.
Now all we have left of her is a song.
Family may be contacted at: spanspirit2form@gmail.com or Carol Pankratz, 307 E 50th Avenue, Eugene, Oregon 97405.
Memorials are suggested to Heifer International and may be sent to: David Pankratz, 312 Shuler Lane, Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania 18360.
