Lois Mae Quist

LOIS MAE ANDERSON QUIST died on October 14, 2018 at the age of 89 in Atlanta, Georgia after a brief illness and a long and beautiful life. Lois was born on June 15, 1929 in St. Peter, Minnesota, the sixth and last child of Swedish immigrants, Otto H. Anderson and Emma Christine Aronson Anderson. Lois attended St. Peter High School where she met her future husband, Kenneth D. Quist, at the age of 14. After graduating high school, Lois attended Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter where she majored in Social Work and was a member of _Delta Epsilon Omicron sorority and the Gustavus Adolphus College Symphonic Band where she played the clarinet, sang in the madrigals and worked in the school library.
In 1948, at the age of 19, she was selected as Miss St. Peter and was a named a Minnesota Aquatennial Princess. After graduating from Gustavus in 1951, Lois moved to St. Paul, Minnesota and accepted a position as a Parish Worker and later Youth Director with Arlington Hills Lutheran Church of St. Paul. In 1953, Lois married Kenneth Quist at First Lutheran Church in St. Peter. In 1955, Lois, with her husband Ken, who had graduated from the University of Minnesota School of Veterinary Medicine and was commissioned an officer with the U>S. Public Health Service, moved to Austin, Texas. In Texas, Ken began his career as an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer assigned to the Texas State Health Department and Lois began her career as a mother when their oldest child, Peter, was born.
Lois and Ken were transferred to Lincoln, Nebraska, where their second son, Steven, was born, then to Berkeley, California and Boise, Idaho. In 1961, Lois and Ken made their final transfer to Atlanta, Georgia when Ken was permanently assigned to the Centers for Disease Control. In September of that year, Lois and her family joined Shallowford Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, Georgia where she was a devoted member for the next 57 years until her death. At Shallowford, Lois sang in the choir for decades, served as a Sunday School teacher, a member of the Welcoming Committee and a dedicated member of the Prayer Shawl Guild until her death.
In 1964, her third and final son, Thomas, was born and after Thomas began to attend school, Lois began her 20-year career as a Reading Teacher with the DeKalb County School System, teaching at both the elementary and high school levels.
Lois enjoyed an exceptionally active travel schedule when she was not teaching. She travelled to Great Britain and Sweden, made semi-annual trips to Cocoa Beach, Florida and trips with her husband to Sweden, Hawaii and Alaska and with her family to New England, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Texas and the American West.
Lois loved all her six grandchildren and took them on tours to Europe including Switzerland, Spain, Italy, France, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Russia, Finland and Sweden. Lois, with her husband, Ken, attended all high school and college graduations of her grandchildren and the wedding of her oldest granddaughter, Genevieve, in 2011. In the final year of her life, Lois travelled to Arlington, Massachusetts to visit her great grandchildren, Dylan and Audrey Green.
Lois was married to her devoted husband, Ken, for 63 years until Ken’s death in 2016. She is survived by her three sons, Peter Quist of Atlanta, Georgia, Steven Quist and daughter-in-law Jean Bain Quist of Doylestown, Pennsylvania , and Thomas Quist, of Atlanta. She is also survived by her six grandchildren, Dr. Genevieve Quist Green of Arlington, Massachusetts (Thomas Green); Andrew Quist of Eugene, Oregon; Kyle Quist of Doylestown, Pennsylvania; Ethan Quist of College, Park, Maryland; Michael Quist of Athens, Georgia and Emma Quist of Los Angeles, California. Lois is also survived by two great grandchildren, Dylan Green and Audrey Green, both of Arlington, Massachusetts. Lois is also survived by numerous nephews and nieces and she loved them all.
Lois is preceded in death by her parents, her brother, Arndt Anderson, Hildur Anderson Swenson, Louise Anderson Thompson, Ruth Elizabeth Anderson, and Dorothy Eleanor Houser.
A Memorial Service for Lois will be held at Shallowford Presbyterian Church, 2375 Shallowford Road, NE., Atlanta, Georgia 30345 at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 3, 2018. An internment at the Shallowford Presbyterian Church Memorial Garden will precede the Memorial Service at 2:00 pm. Donations in lieu of flowers are accepted for the benefit of the Chapel Choir of Shallowford Presbyterian Church.