Lois Coleman Dahlberg, 92

Lois Coleman Dahlberg, 92, of Kellogg, Idaho, was a beloved wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, and she passed away at her home in Kellogg on Dec. 14, 2024. Lois was born in a maternity house in Phoenix, N.Y., on Jan. 6, 1932, to Helen (Cook) and Earl Coleman.  

Her family moved to an 11-acre farm in Bridgeport, N.Y., when she was a young child. Upon graduating from Minoa High School at age 17, in the class of 1949, Lois started nursing school at Syracuse General Hospital in Syracuse, N.Y., graduating with a diploma in nursing. After graduation, she married the love of her life, Keith Dahlberg, on Feb. 20, 1953, and then worked at Syracuse General Hospital as a Registered Nurse for 16 months until her husband graduated from medical school. The newly married couple then moved to Denver, Colo., in 1954, where she worked as a registered nurse at Presbyterian Hospital in Denver while her new husband did his medical internship.  

Lois and Keith moved to Kengtung, Burma, in 1957 as American Baptist medical missionaries, where they served from 1957 to 1962 at Kengtung Christian Hospital. Following a military coup in 1962, the Burmese government refused the Dahlberg family a visa to re-enter Burma, so they transferred to Thailand. Lois and Keith spent a year in Bangkok learning the Thai language, then transferred north, where Keith opened Maesariang Christian Hospital in Mae Hong Son Province. They returned to the United States in 1967 to Kellogg, Idaho, where Lois worked as a school nurse for the Kellogg School District for seven years.   

Lois returned to the mission field in Thailand with her husband and youngest daughter from 1977 to 1981, again working at Maesariang Christian Hospital. During the Cambodian refugee crisis in 1979, Keith and Lois were helping provide medical care to refugees in a tent hospital with 2,000 patients set up in a field near the Thai-Cambodian border. Lois interacted with the then-first lady, Rosalynn Carter, during Mrs. Carter’s fact-finding outreach visit to the refugee camps.     

Upon returning to Kellogg in 1981, she worked at Keith’s medical practice in Pinehurst, Idaho, as his office nurse. She attended Lewis and Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho, on a part-time basis (while also working full time), graduating with a Bachelor of Business degree in 1988. Lois continued working with her husband at the medical office until they both retired in 1993. After her retirement, she accompanied her husband on locum tenens work in nine states in the USA. In addition, Lois volunteered to do medical work with her husband in Burma, Thailand, and Papua New Guinea. Lois was happy with her opportunities to travel, visiting all 50 states in the U.S. and many foreign countries, but she loved her Silver Valley home and neighbors the most.

Lois faithfully served on multiple church committees at Osburn Community Baptist Church and the Pacific Northwest American Baptist Women’s Ministries. She taught Sunday School, led bible studies and served as a deacon at her church. Lois was also an enthusiastic member of PEO (Philanthropic Educational Organization), joining PEO Chapter M of Kellogg Idaho in 1976, where she participated in multiple committees and fundraisers for the chapter over the years to benefit women’s education. Other organizations where she volunteered include The Staff House Museum in Kellogg, Volunteers of Good Samaritan Center in Silverton, Fuller House and North Idaho Hospice.

She is survived by one sister, Edna Mirizio, of Liverpool, N.Y.; four children, Susan Dahlberg (Cleve Ashcraft) of Kingston, Idaho, Patricia (David) Cordier of Olympia, Wash., John Dahlberg (Ho Duan Meng) of Singapore and Nancy Dahlberg of Kennewick, Wash.; nine grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and numerous nephews and nieces. 

A memorial service will be held Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, at 11 a.m. at Mountain View Congregational Church, 525 W. Cameron Ave., Kellogg, Idaho. A luncheon will follow the services at the church. 

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Shoshone Medical Foundation of Kellogg, Idaho, SMC Foundation, 25 Jacobs Gulch, Kellogg, ID 83837 or One Great Hour of Sharing Offering, American Baptist Churches USA, P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 10482-0851.

Memories of Lois and messages of condolence may be shared with the Dahlberg family online at www.shoshonefuneralservice.com. Shoshone Funeral Services, Kellogg, is assisting the Dahlberg family with arrangements.