Lorene Calderone, 96, of Galesburg, died peacefully at 4:36 p.m. Monday, March 4, 2019 at Hawthorne Inn, Galesburg.Lorene was born May 21, 1922 in Marceline, MO the daughter of Ernest and Nora (Music) Mercer. In the summer of 1939, just after she had graduated from high school, Lorene was visiting a friend in Gladstone, Illinois when she met Domenic. He was there playing baseball with a team he sponsored at the time. She was helping work a pop stand at a summer festival. After visiting that night and the next night at the festival, Domenic traveled the 5 hour drive to Marceline, Missouri in each of the next three months. The last trip there, he proposed marriage. Lorene accepted but said she must wait until she was 18. She had actually graduated from high school just before her 17th birthday. The following year, in June of 1940, she came to Galesburg and on July 7, 1940, they were wed. She and Dom were in love for 71 years until the day he died in 2011. Even after his death, she continued to love him every day till the day she passed. Now they are together for eternity.
Lorene is survived by a son, Peter (Margie) Calderone of Victoria; and four grandchildren, Becky (Curt) Good of Oak Run, Peter, Anthony (Delisa) all of Kansas City, MO and Domenic (Kelly) Calderone of Omaha, NE. She is also survived by three great grandchildren, Mikeala Seroka, Bobbi (Justin) Johnson, and A.J. Calderone; and eight great great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband Domenic, her son James and her sister Carmelita.
She was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother and great, great grandmother. She was definitely greatly loved. She also felt she was blessed by everyone she knew and those people always felt the same of her. She will certainly be missed by all.
Lorene worked alongside Dom at the restaurant they established, Club 19, also Dom’s Sports Center, and Calderone Wholesale Sporting Goods. She was a member of Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church.
Funeral Mass will be 10 a.m. at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church with Father Jacob Rose officiating. Burial will follow in St. Josephs Cemetery. Visitation will be at Watson Thomas Funeral Home from 5:30 to 7 p.m. The rosary will be prayed at 7 p.m. Memorials may be made to Costa Catholic Academy. Visit www.watsonthomas.com to share condolences.
