Lorraine Nadine O'Rourke's Obituary
Lorraine Nadine O’Rourke passed away on January 7, 2014 at Alameda Hospital, Alameda CA. She had been at the Bayview Rehab Center prior to her passing. Lorraine was born February 18, 1918 in Stockton, CA. and was the fourth child born to William Thomas Robinson and Dolores Suarez Robinson. She spent her early years in the gold country of Calaveras County and then later the family moved to Oakland. She attended Fremont High School in Oakland where she excelled in school. She graduated in 1936 and attended Oakland Business School and then went to work for Pac Bell as a 411 Operator. She married Jack O’Rourke (Oakland Firefighter) 10191946, and they had Kevin T. O’Rourke 10221947 and Sandra J. O’Rourke on 11121950. The couple remained married for 52 years until Jack’s death in 1998, and Lorraine continued to live in the Oakland family home.
Lorraine was an avid reader and a dedicated working mom and wife. She cheerfully accepted a job in 1960 with the City of Oakland Purchasing Department. She remained a full time employee who was extremely happy working with the City for 35 years and completed her successful civil service career with the Port of Oakland upon retirement in 1996 at the age of 78. She would have worked longer, but her husband’s ill health helped her to make the decision to retire.
Lorraine enjoyed sewing, gardening, writing letters to family and friends, and managed to do all of her own financial planning, bill payments, cooking, laundry and voracious reading up until 1 month prior to her passing. She was a happy, kind, caring, soft spoken, yet opinionated woman who remained independent until her passing at the age of 95.
Lorraine was preceded in death by her brother Harold Robinson of So. Lake Tahoe and a sister Evelyn Chapman of San Francisco, her middle sister Pauline Phillips of Meade, Kansas who passed just one month ago at the age of 103, and her husband John M. O’Rourke, OFD Engineer, who passed in April, 1998.
Lorraine is survived by: Her children, Kevin Thomas O’Rourke of Oakland and daughter Sandra Bradley of Groveland, CA; her grandson Thoren Thomas Bradley of Sonora, and granddaughter, Brittany Bradley of Sacramento, CA. She has a nephew Harold Rickers in Plains, KS and a niece, Carol Jean Lockhart in Bryan, Texas both of whom have children and grandchildren throughout both states who remained dear to Lorraine throughout her life.
A simple memorial service will be held at the Chapel of the Chimes, Piedmont Ave. in Oakland, CA on Sunday January 26th at 2:00pm. Lorraine will be buried alongside her husband, at St. Mary’s Cemetery, Oakland, CA in private.
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