Lorraine Long Madsen, May 07, 1928 - January 20, 2021 (age 92)

We celebrate the life of Lorraine Frances Long Madsen who peacefully entered the presence of her Lord and Savior on January 20, 2021. She was reunited in heaven with her beloved husband of 69 years, Anders Nelson "Bud" Madsen, Jr. Lorraine is survived by two daughters, Linda Madsen Guy (Sonny) and Gwendolyn "Wendy" Madsen Holden (David), and by a son, Anders Nelson Madsen, III. Lorraine loved her 12 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren (and counting), who called her "Grammy."

Lorraine was born on May 7, 1928, to restaurant owners, Pasquale Luongo and Frances Regna Luongo, in Chicago Heights, Illinois. She was the youngest of eight children— three sisters, Emma, Gemma and Della and four brothers, Robert, Hugo, Ario and Dolcino.

After graduating with the Class of 1946 from Bloom Township High School in Chicago Heights, Lorraine went to DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. It was at DePauw that she met her future husband, Bud Madsen.

In the spring of 1949, Bud and Lorraine graduated with their Bachelor Degrees. Lorraine's major was English, and she began her teaching career the following fall in Bentonville, Illinois.

Bud and Lorraine were married on June 13, 1951, in Chicago Heights. They honeymooned in Miami, Florida, and made the decision to make it their home. They continued their teaching careers in Miami Dade County and both earned Master's Degrees at the University of Miami.

The next major step in their lives was starting a family. Lorraine put her career on hold and became a wonderful "stay-at-home mom" until all three children were school age.

Lorraine believed in "life-long learning." When Bud and Lorraine's youngest started school, Lorraine resumed teaching and, over the years, took college courses to become a certified teacher in early childhood education, elementary education, special education and as a reading specialist. She filled various teaching positions during her career as an educator.

In 1993, Lorraine retired from teaching, and she and Bud moved to Palm City, Florida, to be near Wendy and David and their growing family. At that time, they also became members of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Palm City.

It is difficult to record all the grandchildren's thoughts when it is someone, like Lorraine, who has 18 grandchildren including the six who married into the family. Below is a glimpse of some common threads from her grandchildren's reflections:

Grammy was a feisty, classy, Italian lady who greeted us with a kiss. She was interested in hearing all about the latest happenings in our lives and always had a lot of no-nonsense wisdom to share. She wanted us to strive to be the best that we could be, which made us conscious of even our grammar and posture. :-)

Grammy wanted her grandchildren to have special experiences in life. She had a great memory and could easily recall past events in her life which she enjoyed sharing in detail. She, also, loved to travel to new and different places and encouraged us to do the same.

Grammy had a way of making her friends and family feel special and uniquely valued. Those who married into the family felt they were loved and accepted just as much, if not more, than those who were naturally born.

Grammy is happy to be with Jesus and Poppy and will show us all around Heaven when we get there. We will miss her big, beautiful smile— it was the best!

We love you, Grammy.

Lorraine has left all of us with the following scripture verse that she had handwritten on a card,

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away,           yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.                So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what                    is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.                                                                                                                                II Corinthians 4:16-18 NIV

There will be no formal memorial service. Final internment will include a double service with her husband at Arlington National Cemetery at a future date.

Please feel free to share a remembrance or message of condolence with the family through this online guestbook.