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Grace Lomas
Grace Hawkins Lomas of Pennsylvania and formerly of Quogue died in hospice at Pine Run Community at Doylestown on Sunday, September 18. She was 92.
Born in her grandmother’s front bedroom on September 19, 1919, to Howard and Viola Hawkins, she had a wonderful childhood surrounded by family and friends in the Village of Quogue where everyone knew each other.
Upon graduation from Westhampton High School she embarked on a nursing career but was sidetracked by a car accident that required an extensive recovery, which allowed her to meet the love of her life, Walter Richard Lomas. They were married in 1942 and moved to Philadelphia where Mr. Lomas was an engineer at the Philadelphia Naval Base. When her husband was transferred to Johnsville Naval Air Station they eventually settled in Hatboro, Pennsylvania, where they raised two boys and became an important part of the community.
Ms. Lomas was a stay-at-home housewife of the 50s and 60s. She was a wonderful mom who cooked great meals, kept the neatest house and cared for her sons’ litany of chicken pox, mumps, measles and scarlet fever.
She spent years as a den mother for all the neighborhood Cub Scouts, organizing creative activities and riding herd on a crew of itchy seven and eight year olds. In her spare time she loved to crochet and was an avid bowler.
Life changed dramatically in September of 1967, when her husband Walter was killed in a car accident in Baltimore while on business for the Navy.
She spent some tough and lonely years until an old family friend and co-worker of her late husband, John Knoll, came back into her life. With an empty nest and a new relationship she entered into an exciting phase of her life.
She and Mr. Knoll bought a house on the beach in Avalon, New Jersey, where many family and friends visited. She and Mr. Knoll traveled extensively to places such as Japan, China, Panama, and Europe. They also took many cruises.
In 1983, she and Mr. Knoll moved several miles down the road to Furlong, Pennsylvania, and enjoyed many years enhancing the interior of their new home and its ground, which became the scene of many family gatherings including the wedding of her son, Lynn.
In 2001 Mr. Knoll died, and within a year or two Ms. Lomas moved to an apartment in Ann’s Choice Retirement Center located on the old Johnsville Naval Air Development Center in Warminster where both her late husbands once worked.
At Ann’s Choice, Ms. Lomas made many new friends, and even those who didn’t know her recognized her as “that tiny lady with the big smile and pretty blue eyes.” It was here in her later years that she acquired the nickname “Amazing Grace,” and became a member of the Red Hat Society.
As years passed and her physical skills declined she had to get about in her electric “jazzy” chair. She would often be cited for driving too fast and would flash her baby blues and smile and apologize.
Time on her chair eventually slowed her down, and after a series of falls, she ended up at Pine Run Community. She began hospice care in late June of this year. Even there, fading away, she became a favorite of the staff because she always responded with a smile and those pretty blue eyes right until the end.
Ms. Lomas is survived by her children, Jerry Lomas and his wife Savona, and Lynn Lomas and his wife Kathy, all of Pennsylvania; grandchildren, Richie and Matt Lomas, Bryon and his wife Kristen Lomas, Kate and her husband John; and great-grandchildren, Ahna and Gracie, and Christopher.
A memorial service for Ms. Lomas will be held in the chapel at Ann’s Choice at a later date.
on Sep 26, 2011