Laurice C. Lillich, passed away at her home on Thursday, March 16, 2017, at the age of 85. She was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, raised in Superior, Wisconsin, and spent many happy times with her Finnish grandparents and relatives in Ely, Minnesota.

Laurice received a teaching degree from Superior State Teacher's College (now UW-Superior). She moved to Racine for her first teaching job at Knapp School. She met her future husband in Racine and was married to Carl Lillich in 1955. Laurice taught Kindergarten for many years in the Racine Unified School District. She also founded the "bridge club that doesn't play bridge" with fellow teacher friends and they have been going strong for over 60 years. It is rumored that they actually used to play bridge.

She was a faithful member of Our Savior's Lutheran Church (now Living Faith Lutheran Church) where she sang in the choir, taught Sunday School, served on the altar guild, served many meals, and volunteered her time at many functions.

On the home front, her pies were legendary, but so were the "burn-n-serve" rolls that accompanied many a wonderful holiday dinner she prepared. She loved to do crafts and needlework projects and she skillfully knit some very beautiful sweaters. She was an accomplished seamstress, making many costumes for the Racine Sweet Adeline's chorus she performed with for many years. She was always interested in all of the activities of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandsons, all of whom she loved greatly. There were many miles put on the family station wagon, as she drove her kids to lessons, friends' houses, and sports activities, like when she took a carload of mostly noisy boys to the Junior State Bowling Tournament and enjoyed every minute of it. To relax, she loved to read, watch Jeopardy, do crosswords, and she loved to listen to all types of music, from the Racine Zoo Animal Crackers Jazz concerts with her son, Jim, to classical symphonies, to school band concerts, to church hymns, to her grandsons' rock concerts. Giving to others was very important to her and she gave of her time, money, and talents to many organizations like MPTV (Milwaukee Public Television) and Special Olympics Wisconsin.

Laurice is survived by her husband, Carl; children Linda (Chris) Lamb, Karen (Jeff) Harms, Richard Lillich, and James (Jeanne) Lillich; grandchildren Jeremy, Timothy (Michele) and Sarah Harms, Jacob and Alexander Lamb, Hannah and Emma Lillich; and great-grandsons Ryan, Wieland, and Benjamin Harms; her sister, Merna (Ralph) Hammerbeck; her brother, Roger Hendrickson; and many other relatives and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents and her brother, Richard Hendrickson.

The family would like to extend the heartfelt gratitude to the to the Racine Police Dept., the E.M.T.s, and the Racine County Medical Examiner's Office for the support and comfort they showed them.

Service Details

Visitation for Laurice will be from 11:00 A.M. – 1:00 P.M. on Tuesday, March 21, 2017 at Draeger Langendorf Funeral Home, 4600 County Line Road, Racine, Wisconsin. Services at the funeral home with Pastor Denise Mbise will follow at 1:00 P.M. Entombment will be at West Lawn Memorial Park in Racine. Please see Sunday's paper for the complete obituary.

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