Lorraine J. Torkelson, age 93, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, January 24, 2017 at McKenna Crossing in Prior Lake, Minnesota.
Lorraine was born on September 12, 1923 in the family farmhouse near St. James, Minnesota as the first-born child of parents G. Adolph (1886-1968) and Helga (Anderson) Torkelson (1900-1967). The family expanded to include two younger brothers Eldon (1925-1984) and Roger (1929-1980). The family farm had been established by Lorraine’s grandparents, Per and Pernilla Torkelson, who emigrated from Sweden in the 1870s. Five generations later, the farm continues to be farmed by Torkelson descendants today. Lorraine and her family were members of East Sveadahl Lutheran Church and other school and community organizations in the St. James area including 4-H.
Lorraine graduated from St. James High School in 1941. She then followed in her father’s footsteps and attended Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota, graduating in 1945. Two years later Lorraine moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where she attended Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1951. This medical school was the first school in the world established specifically to train women for the degree of doctor of medicine. Unlike today where approximately half of physicians in training are women, being a woman in medical school was rare in the 1940s. In fact, Lorraine was the first female graduate of Gustavus to attend and graduate from medical school.
Following medical school, Lorraine moved to Chicago to continue her training in Obstetrics/Gynecology through the Chicago Maternity Center and Wesley Memorial Hospital. The Chicago Maternity Center provided pregnancy and prenatal care and home deliveries for Chicago mothers who lived in some of Chicago’s poorest and most dangerous neighborhoods and housing projects. After completion of her residency, Lorraine continued working in the Chicago area as an Obstetrics/Gynecology physician until her retirement in 1988. She had her own private practice office in Evanston, Illinois for many years of her career and was on the faculty of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine as an Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Lorraine was a pioneering and dedicated physician who delivered many hundreds of babies and helped women achieve better health over her medical career. She was an inspiration to her family and in fact two more generations of women relatives pursued careers in medicine. Lorraine’s niece Susan Torkelson and great niece Laura Lynch also graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College and have gone on to pursue careers in medicine (Susan Torkelson, M. D. in Obstetrics/Gynecology and Laura Lynch, M.D. a resident in Radiology).
Lorraine was committed wholeheartedly to her career, but her true passion in her free time was related to animals. In the 1970s, she moved to a ten acre property in Libertyville, Illinois where she could raise her beloved poodles as well as have horses, goats, sheep, chickens, ducks and other assorted animals – back to her country childhood roots. Lorraine established a nationally recognized kennel, Torquay Kennels, breeding, raising and showing standard, miniature, and toy poodles. In her retirement years, this activity was her true joy and she occupied her time with her dogs and with the many friends she met through American Kennel Club and Poodle Club of America dog shows as well as agility and obedience training activities. Numerous dogs from her kennel were conformation, obedience and agility champions. One of her dogs won the coveted title “Best in Show” multiple times and was featured on the cover of the 1991 book “The New Poodle”. Torquay Kennel poodles gave great joy to Lorraine and to the many happy owners of her puppies throughout the years.
Lorraine had other interests as well including raising her own vegetables, traveling in her motorhome, knitting wool hats and scarves using wool from her sheep, and reading mystery novels. Even though many individuals her age did not adapt to computers, she owned one of the original MAC computers and used it to communicate via email before that was commonplace to do so. She bought a motor home to transport her dogs to dog shows and obedience/agility events throughout the country. Even into her 80s, she was traveling with dogs and her mobile home on wheels. One of her favorite destinations was Camp Gone to the Dogs in Stowe, Vermont, which she attended for several years. She was in many ways a private, reserved person but she loved her friends and family dearly, and they loved her in return.
Lorraine Torkelson’s legacy will be continued on by her two beloved nieces Susan (Karyn) Torkelson of Shakopee, Minnesota and Ruth (Ross) Lynch of Lake Tomahawk, Wisconsin; her great nephew Michael (Laci) Lynch of Mankato, Minnesota and great niece Laura (Lee) Linstroth of Salt Lake City, Utah; great great nephew Owen Lynch; and many other relatives and friends.
A celebration of Lorraine’s life with sharing of memories and pictures is being planned for a later date.
