A Life Well-Lived
Loving Lois
Lois Sims Stack passed away peacefully on June 28, 2020 after a decade-long and defiant battle with congestive heart failure. At the time of her passing, she just finished listening to her big brother, Lowell, speak to her over the phone and was holding hands with her loving husband of 24 years, Stephen Stack, her dear friend, Moe, and her only child, Amy.
Lois was born in Southern California in 1948 to Leland and Lucille Sims. She always liked to say that she “grew up in Orange County when it was full of orange groves.” As a descendant of Nebraska farmers, she loved growing up with an avocado orchard in her backyard and always spoke fondly of her somewhat “rural” upbringing, while speaking decidedly less fondly of the long bus rides to school. She cherished play dates with neighborhood friends and weekend gatherings with her Mom’s family.
After high school, Lois began working towards an undergraduate degree at UC Santa Barbara and subsequently transferred to UC Berkeley. She completed her undergraduate degree in art history in 1970.
Upon graduation, she married her first husband, David Agnew. While awaiting his California State Bar results, they temporarily moved from the Bay Area to the Coachella Valley and stayed in David’s family vacation home in an effort to conserve living expenses (and let’s be honest – to get out of the fog and into the sun). That temporary move turned into a lifelong love affair with the Coachella Valley, which became her permanent home for the next two decades.
Daughter Amy arrived in 1976 and Lois balanced care for her young child while helping grow her husband’s law practice (frequently typing his dictations in the middle of the night while her daughter slept soundly in the carrier next to her). She somehow also still found time to participate in the desert’s vibrant art community. This passion led her to a position as the director of the La Quinta Arts Foundation in the mid-1980s. For the remainder of her life, she fondly spoke about the pride she felt in shepherding the Foundation through its adolescent days. Lois remained in the desert throughout the 1980s.
Lois met Stephen while on a business trip in 1990 and they began a long-distance courtship filled with frequent travel for “date nights” and countless postcards exchanged across the miles. After 4 years of long-distance love, Lois relocated to the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago in 1994 to be with him. She joined him as a proud resident of the Seminary and quickly became a forever student on the “care and feeding” of a Victorian-era home.
Her weekdays were filled with learning how to run operations at Stephen’s industrial sewing company, aptly named SeamCraft. Weekends and rare days off were filled with caring for their home, socializing with local friends and traveling as much as they could – domestic or international. They loved to be on the go. They cherished their summers on Stephen’s beloved sailboat, Windstar, with his boat partners and summer dinners in Greek Town, China Town or on the patio at the Chicago Yacht Club. Winter weekends were spent traveling west with the Lakeshore Ski and Sports Club for downhill ski adventures in Colorado and Utah.
In September 2001, Lois and Stephen met some friends at a private airport outside of Chicago and boarded a small plane for a weekend getaway to Mackinac Island. Always up for an adrenaline rush, Lois asked to take the co-pilot’s seat so she could have a bird’s eye view during the trip. Upon ascent, the plane failed to gain altitude and crashed into a wooded area. While Stephen and the two other passengers sustained minor injuries, Lois suffered a life-threatening spinal injury. She survived and then thrived. In her year-long recovery and rehabilitation she showed an unquenchable determination to make a full comeback, which she did.
While their travel slowed somewhat after the accident, Lois remained active at SeamCraft and in the community and loved her investment and book clubs. Stephen and Lois retired from the business in 2014 and began focusing on home renovation projects and more frequent visits to family and friends. Their travels included visits to see their twin grandchildren, Luke and Sophia (born to Amy and her husband, Alexis Dugdale, in 2011). While Stephen and Lois said their California visits were "to see their grandchildren," it’s likely that the In-n-Out next to the airport in California may have had something to do with their desire to visit as frequently as they did. They also treasured their visits to Stephen’s family in Erie, Pennsylvania and Lois’ family in Southern California and lifelong friends in the Coachella Valley.
With more free time following her retirement, Lois joined St. Paul’s United Church of Christ in Lincoln Park. She derived great joy from joining the congregation and began teaching Sunday school. She spent countless hours each week preparing her lessons and cherished her time with the students. She was also an active member of the Connectors group – where her compassionate nature made her especially well-suited to engage directly with other parishioners in a way that made them feel special. In addition, her creative flair was apparent every time she brightened up a table with one of her beautiful floral arrangements.
Just a couple years ago, Lois leaped at the opportunity to provide food and shelter to a feral cat through a special program in Chicago. The aim of the program is to help control the city’s rodent population. With their travel schedule, Stephen and Lois were never able to commit to a full-time pet, but this program seemed like a great opportunity. Lois carefully studied how to properly care for her new black and white feline charge that she named Oreo. Both Stephen and Lois developed a close bond with what became their semi-domesticated, feral lap cat. Oreo brought them endless joy with his antics and great comfort with his loyalty – always shepherding Lois and Stephen from their back door to the end of their alley (a no-cross border Lois had established via a high number of verbal warnings to Oreo).
Following Stephen’s stroke in 2018, Lois needed an in-home caregiver to assist with Stephen’s rehabilitation. Through her and Stephen’s involvement with Lincoln Park Village, they were able to find Janellie, an amazing woman who helped ensure they could remain in their beloved home together. With her intelligence, positive attitude and unwavering patience, Janellie quickly became an invaluable part of their daily life. As Stephen's care needs increased and Lois' heart health deteriorated over the last year, a wonderful team of caregivers, including Daryl, Gilda and NG, joined Janellie to ensure Stephen and Lois could remain together in their home - as they wished.
Lois’ love, kindness and generosity will remain forever with all whose lives she touched, but especially with the immediate family members who have the joy of carrying her legacy forward – Stephen, Amy, Alexis, Luke, Sophia and Oreo as well as her beloved brother, Lowell Sims, his wife, Leslie, their children Brad (Kelly), Kirsten (Aramis) and her great nephews, Rowan, Lucas, Colby, Conrad and Marcos.
While Lois loved flowers – especially calla lilies and peonies – she loved making charitable donations far more. She prefers that any flowers in her honor be replaced with donations to the following organizations – American Heart Association or St. Paul’s United Church of Christ.
