Eunice Loon

Eunice Van Loon, of Biloxi, passed away on April 26, 2017. She was 94.
Eunice was born to Nellie and Gustav Witte on the family dairy farm in Holmen, Wisconsin in 1922. Eunice graduated from Holmen High School in 1940 and enrolled in business school in LaCrosse to become a stenographer. She moved to Washington, D.C. in December 1941, to accept a civil service position, where many jobs previously done by men were vacant due to the draft. Eunice worked at the Department of Agriculture until June 1944 and during her tenure she met Mr. Smucker (of Smucker's jelly fame). Moving straight from the farm to the big city, Eunice grew up quick and learned many life lessons, like what cord on the streetcar not to pull. Her other claim to fame while in Washington was sharing the same section of a revolving door with James Cagney; she had chased after him to get his autograph but was too embarrassed to ask for it following their close encounter.
On May 4, 1944, Eunice married Rodney Marshall Van Loon, of Onalaska, Wisconsin, while he was serving in the Army. After the war and while Rod (Marshall to his Wisconsin brethren) was earning his engineering degree from the University of Wisconsin, Eunice worked in the finance office at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, and later worked as a stenographer at the University.
Following Rod's graduation, in August 1949, Rod and Eunice packed all of their worldly belongings in a small trailer and moved to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, where Rod had been hired as a radar instructor at Keesler Air Force Base. Their first purchase was a box fan to combat the South Mississippi heat and humidity. Eunice became a legal secretary to Eaton & Cottrell in Gulfport, and she remained in that position until the birth of Rod and Eunice's first son, Rodney, Jr., in 1952.
As her children were growing up, Eunice worked a number of other jobs, including serving as office administrator for the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church kindergarten, switchboard operator at Gulf Coast Community Hospital, and sales clerk at Gayfer's.
Eunice was an active volunteer throughout her life. In addition to holding numerous church offices, she printed Braille bibles at St. Matthew's Lutheran Church in Gulfport for twenty-five years and worked for eleven years at the Lynn Meadows Discovery Center.
Eunice never met a stranger and seemed to delight in embarrassing her children by striking up conversations with people she did not know. She especially enjoyed cooking and baking and sharing with friends and family. Fortunate were the young airmen from Keesler Air Force Base who were invited to Sunday dinner after church, which was a common occurrence at the Van Loon household. Eunice was a great cook and made sure no one left her table hungry. She was a frequent winner of the "cook-offs" that preceded Saturday evening church services and she commented more than once (we think jokingly) that they had to let others win occasionally lest no one else would enter. She continued to bake until recently when her health prevented her from doing so.
Eunice was well read, and when she was not cooking or baking, you could usually find her reading or emailing jokes and political commentary to her ever-expanding email list and freely sharing her views on all things political, even if those views were not necessarily solicited. This no doubt contributed to the "one of a kind" reference by which she was often described.
She was always amused at obituaries that included pictures of the deceased many decades earlier than their ages at death. She thought it would be funny so she dared her children to use her baby picture with her obituary. Well Mom, we took the dare!
Eunice was preceded in death by her husband of 69 years, Rod, her son, Rodney, Jr., her parents, and her brothers, Kenneth Witte, Harrison Witte, Rev. Marvin Witte, and Sherman Witte.
Eunice is survived by her children, Dennis (Margaret) Van Loon of Ocean Springs; Teresa (Bill) Breeden of Saucier; Gilbert (Clare) Van Loon of Jackson; and Melissa Van Loon, of Biloxi; daughter-in-law, Donna Van Loon of Gulfport; her grandchildren, Brooke (David) Mask, Marshall Van Loon, Elizabeth Van Loon, Bryant Van Loon, and Mary Clare Van Loon; and great grandchildren, Danielle Mask and David Mask. She is also survived by a sister, Ruth Wojcik, of Wilmington, North Carolina; a sister-in-law, Ardis Witte, of Rochester, Minnesota; a sister-in-law, Mary (Steve) Tolvstad, of Minneapolis, Minnesota; a brother-in-law, Merlin Paudler, of Midway, Wisconsin; a sister-in-law, Beverly Van Loon, of Harvard, Illinois; and numerous nieces and nephews.
The family wishes to express its appreciation to the staff of Merit Hospital-Biloxi and The Pillars of Biloxi for their care of Eunice.
Eunice's family is especially grateful to Dr. Marion Wainwright and her nurse, Lacey Noland, for their many years of compassionate care.
Eunice donated her body to the University of Mississippi Medical Center. A memorial service celebrating her life will be held on Monday, May 1, at 11:00 am at Bethel Lutheran Church in Biloxi. The service will be preceded by a visitation at 10:00 am at the church.
Memorials may be made to Bethel Lutheran Church, Biloxi, Mississippi, the Humane Society of South Mississippi, or a charity of one's choice.
The RIEMANN FAMILY FUNERAL HOME, 274 Beauvoir Rd., Biloxi, is serving the family and an online guestbook may be signed at www.riemannfamily.com