In Memoriam ~ Lorraine H. Cofell

Past Staff Member and Grandmother of Kieran ’02, Emerson ’05, and Liam ’11 Cofell-Dwyer, Emiliana ’12, Leela ’14, and Fynn ’18 Cofell

Lorraine Helen Westrup Cofell, born November 2, 1927, died on Wednesday, January 29, 2025. She was blessed to spend 66 of those years with William “Bill” Cofell, who she married on a sunny morning on June 16, 1951, in her home town of Eden Valley, Minnesota. Lorraine was born to Anton and Irene (Heibel) Westrup and grew up on a farm just outside of town, the eldest of three children, during a time when horses still did most of the work on their farm. Lorraine delighted in the beauty of rural Minnesota and the wild areas that surrounded the farm and it inspired a lifelong interest in nature and learning. Lorraine was a determined student, walking a mile to school every day, engaged in academics and music, and willing to travel in the back of an uncovered livestock truck with her high school band to play a concert in Minneapolis. This determination never wavered, despite the many encouragements to the contrary for women of her era.

After graduating from Eden Valley High School, Lorraine enrolled as a student at the College of St. Benedict. Excelling in math and science, she was the only woman to graduate with a degree in chemistry in the class of 1949. It was also at the College of St. Benedict where she met Bill, then a student at St. John’s University, on a blind date.

After graduating, Lorraine lived in Minneapolis and worked as a chemist for General Mills until she and Bill married and moved to Melrose in 1951. In 1953, Lorraine and Bill returned to the community of Collegeville, where they built a yellow house on Old Collegeville Road surrounded by flowers. There, Lorraine undertook the immense task of raising their seven children in a home of unconditional love.

Lorraine’s journey as a student wasn’t over. In 1977, she completed a master’s degree in botany at St. Cloud State University. During this time, she loved to conduct field studies of plants in the Saint John’s Arboretum, children in tow as they too learned to observe the beauty in even the smallest, most simple plants.

After raising seven children and having earned many times over the opportunity for a less demanding job, Lorraine worked at Apollo High School, Saint John’s Preparatory School, and finally the Alcuin Library at Saint John’s University.

In her retirement, Lorraine enjoyed researching family history, woodworking and refinishing furniture, and volunteering with the Monastery of St. Benedict and doing volunteer respite work. She was also member of the Nature Conservancy, Saint John’s Arboretum, and Habitat for Humanity and traveled to Washington D.C. to rally for affordable housing. Lorraine was a committed member of the St. John the Baptist Parish in Collegeville and an oblate of Saint Benedict.

Lorraine’s relentless love of learning and of nature was only exceeded by her love and generosity for her family and her community. To her children, she is remembered as “Mom,” who would stage little carnivals throughout the house, read books aloud, sew clothes and Halloween costumes, and integrated kindness and love into every word and every act.

To her grandchildren, she is forever “Grandma Lorraine,” who knew the names of the plants during walks in the woods, would take them raspberry picking in her garden, spend time doing puzzles and baking cookies together, always had a mischievous plan for how St. Nick would deliver treats unnoticed on the Eve of St. Nicholas, and taught them that patience and kindness are the highest marks of intelligence.

Her great-grandchildren will remember the delight at getting to choose a toy from “Great Grandma’s” treasure chest on every visit, and take pride at winning card games of 31 with her. Her neighbors loved the laughter of shared meals and regular card games of 500, where Lorraine was always the sharpest of players. Her fellow parishioners remember her as a dedicated volunteer and a reliable friend for coffee after Wednesday mass every week, year after year.

Lorraine Cofell died as she lived, surrounded by her family and with a heart full of love, prayer and music. She is survived by her children Paul (Christine), Mary (Jim), Ann, Jeanne, Patricia (Al), John (Ruth), and David, and her 15 grandchildren Laurel (Farzin), Patrick (Angelina), Jon Paul (Samantha), Lucas (Brooke), Joshua (JL), Katie (Kelvin), Tim (Kelly), Ashley (Fé), Kieran ’02 (Natalie), Emerson ’05 (Brittany), Liam ’11 (Allison), Audrey, Emiliana ’12 (Edmund), Leela ’14, and Fynn ’18 (Vince), and 19 great grandchildren Benjamin, Samuel, Abigail, Laurence, Lillian, Grayson, Silas, Aspen, Esmee, Winston, James, William, Áine, Jayber, Charlotte, Virginia, Eleanora, Rosalind, and Patrick, and her sisters-in-law Lois Scouten and Loretta Utecht.

She is preceded in death by her husband Bill, by her parents, by her brothers Dennis and Robert, her son-in-law, Prep art teacher Patrick Dwyer, and by her infant daughter with whom she is rejoined in Christ.

Memorials can be directed to the William and Lorraine Cofell Scholarship Fund at St. John’s University or other organizations dedicated to environmental or social justice.