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Luonna M. Norton, age 70, of Linwood Township, passed away on January 16, 2024 after a long and courageous fight with Alzheimer’s.

Loni was born on October 24, 1953 in St. Paul to LeRoy and Elenore Lorinser. In her youth, she attended St. Joseph’s Academy before spending her senior year at North St. Paul High School and graduating with the Class of 1972.

She went on to work as a supply attendant driving 18 wheelers before finding her calling as a longtime employee of Northwestern Bell/US West/Qwest/CenturyLink. She was a talented and dedicated employee and proud member of the Communication Workers of America union.

It was at Northwestern Bell that she met the love of her life, Scott Norton. They were wed in February of 1983 and they moved, along with her son Justin, to a quaint house in Oakdale, where they had two more sons, Joseph and Jeffrey. But, Loni always dreamed of living in a lake house, and in the summer of 1992, Scott and Loni moved the whole family up to Martin Lake in Linwood Township, where Joe and Jeff were raised.

Loni loved her family, going to every activity of theirs, always being there to pick them up when things didn’t go their way. She enjoyed pontoon rides on the lake with Scott, spending time with her large family, especially her brothers and sisters, her Golden Retrievers, shopping, all things Christmas related, watching Wheel of Fortune and All My Children and she particularly enjoyed telling Scott that he was being too loud all the time. In her later years, Loni’s favorite activity by far was spending time with her granddaughters. She would visit them every weekend when they were young and loved going to their events.

At the age of only 58, Loni was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. She never batted an eye at the diagnosis and was almost always positive despite the grim reality of dementia. The only thing she got upset with was losing her ability to drive, but eventually, she grew to love having Scott as a chauffeur.

Despite her failing cognitive ability, Loni loved day trips to the North Shore with Scott, snuggling up to her dogs, going to granddaughter’s lacrosse games and dance recitals, and singing songs from her childhood, especially Que Sera, Sera by Doris Day. She still loved Christmas time, seeing her siblings and if you could really get her going, she had an infectious, uncontrollable laugh that would put everyone in stitches.

Loni battled hard through her dementia, with Scott by her side for every doctor’s visit, check up, progression, setback, peak and valley, but it eventually became severe enough that she went into memory care for the last three months of her life in November of 2023 before passing away in January of 2024, just nine days after her final Christmas celebration with her family. She received wonderful and beautiful care at Encore Assisted Living and Memory Care in Hugo, and her family is grateful for the assistance they provided as Loni transitioned from this world to Heaven.

She is preceded in death by parents LeRoy and Elenore Lorinser; brother Paul Lorinser; and brother-in-law James Gmeinder.

Loni is survived by her husband of 40 years, Scott; sons Justin Lorinser, Joseph (Lisa) Norton, Jeffrey (Aly) Norton; brother, Michael (Karen) Lorinser; sisters, Sharon Gmeinder, Mary (Thomas) Prew, Ann (Larry) Nussbaum, Kristin Lorinser; granddaughters, Avery, Addison, Elliott and Callie; cousins; many nieces and nephews; dear friend, Nancy Maloney; and pet dogs, LuLu and Peanut.

A celebration of Loni’s life 11 a.m. Saturday, January 27 with visitation beginning at 10 a.m. at Roberts Family Funeral Home, Forest Lake. Interment at Linwood Cemetery, Linwood Township. In lieu of flowers, a donation in Loni’s name to the Alzheimer’s Association at act.alz.org or to Retrieve A Golden of the Midwest at www.ragom.org would be appreciated.

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