Frances Luoma (Metzger) Luoma

November 20, 1917 - July 9, 2013

Frances passed away on Tuesday, July 9, 2013 at home in Roseburg, with the same grace with which she lived - kind, considerate, and cheerful to the end.
Frances was born on November 20, 1917 in Salem, Oregon, the daughter of Lewis and Gertrude (Dodo) Metzger. She was the younger of two children. Her sister Margaret was always an important part of her life and she cherished their many shared experiences. Margaret preceded her in death in 1998.
Her family moved to Roseburg before Frances was a year old. She attended Rose School, Central Junior High, and Roseburg High School. After graduating from high school, Frances joined Margaret in Chicago where they lived in a women's boarding house and Frances attended the Gregg College to learn secretarial skills. It was a wonderful experience for two young women from the small town of Roseburg, and she often told stories from that time. After working in Chicago, she returned to Oregon and worked in Portland for a time.
Upon returning to Roseburg, Frances took a job as a legal secretary at the Orcutt and Long law firm. Through her work she met George Luoma, and they married on May 9, 1948, (too much consternation by Orcutt and Long over their loss). They had two children: Daniel and Sally. George preceded her in death in 2002.
Frances and George were avid golfers, and were long-time members of the Roseburg Country Club. Frances was honored with a lifetime membership in 2004 and played golf until she was ninety. Frances enjoyed the challenge of playing bridge and the many friends she made doing so over the years. In the early 1960s she was a volunteer with the American Cancer Society and gathered data locally as part of a national study that contributed to showing the link between smoking and cancer. During the 1970s Frances decided she wanted to get a college education, so she attended Umpqua Community College and received an associate degree. She was also an avid reader and participated in book clubs. She was always interested in learning new things and read three newspapers and did a couple of crosswords nearly every day. Because reading was so important to her, Frances participated in the SMART program in the local grade schools, helping children to learn to read. She also took piano lessons for many years and learned to use a computer later in life.
Frances is survived by her two children: Dan Luoma (Joyce Eberhart); and Sally Gough (Evan Gough); grandchildren: Stan; Andrew; Joey; and Robbie; nieces, Carol and Nanci and their children. Also Rich Hardy a best friend of recent years.
We are blessed to have had such a wonderful, gracious person in our lives. Her church was one of the pillars of her life; donations in her memory can be made to the First Presbyterian Church (823 SE Lane Ave, Roseburg, OR 97470) with which Frances was affiliated for nearly 95 years. A service officiated by Pastor Vicky Brown will be held for Frances at the church at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, July 19 and will be followed by a celebration of her life at the Roseburg Country Club.