Lori L. Svendgard, 62, of Blair, died Friday, May 23, 2014, at Memorial Community Hospital in Blair.

Services were Tuesday, May 27, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Blair. Interment was in the Blair Cemetery.

Lori L. McKinnis was born Feb. 3, 1952, the first child of Clair and Gwen McKinnis.

She was active in Trinity Lutheran Church, of which she was a member throughout her life. After graduating from Blair High School, she married Bill Briggs and had her first son, Brady.

On Jan. 19, 1974, she was married to Tim Svendgard, her partner in life until her passing. He adopted Brady, giving him his name and raising him as his own. Their second son, Travis, was born in 1975, completing her family.

She spent her young adulthood raising her family and managing the Omaha World-Herald for the Blair area. In 1989, she became a programmer at DL Blair, where she worked until 2009.

She remained active in the church, teaching Sunday school, leading youth groups and coordinating the church's sponsorship of a Vietnamese refugee family.

She loved spending time outdoors, particularly at the cabin that the couple shared on the Missouri River near Tekamah. Spending time there with her grandchildren – Madison, Spencer, Cameron and Gherig – was one of the joys of her life.

She was able to see the humor in day-to-day life and approached the world with a sense of love and acceptance that earned her many friends through the years.

She is survived by husband Tim Svendgard of Blair; sons Brady Svendgard of Lincoln and Travis (Jaclyn) Svendgard of Blair; grandchildren: Madison and Spencer Svendgard of Lincoln and Cameron and Gherig Svendgard of Blair; parents Clair and Gwen McKinnis of Blair; sister Lana (Pat) Thompson of Blair; and brother Dave (Kathy) McKinnis of Blair.

She was preceded in death by her brother, Daniel McKinnis; maternal grandparents Fred and Bea Sass; and paternal grandparents Clarence and Ruth McKinnis.

Memorials may be directed to Smile Train, P.O. Box 96231, Washington, D.C. 20090-6231.

Campbell-Aman Funeral Home in Blair was in charge of arrangements.

Published in Omaha World-Herald from May 25 to May 26, 2014

Svendgard, Lori L.

Age 62

Blair, NE. Survived by husband, Tim Svendgard of Blair; sons, Brady Svendgard of Lincoln, Travis (Jaclyn) Svendgard, Blair; grandchildren, Madison and Spence Svendgard, Lincoln, Cameron and Gherig Svendgard, Blair; parents, Clair and Gwen McKinnis; sister, Lana (Pat) Thompson; and brother, Dave (Kathy) McKinnis, all of Blair.

SERVICES at 10:30am Tuesday, May 27, at Trinity Lutheran Church, Blair. Interment will follow Services in the Blair Cemetery. VISITATION will be Monday, May 26, beginning at 2pm, with family Receiving friends 6-8pm, all at Campbell Aman Funeral Home CAMPBELL-AMAN FUNERAL HOME Blair, NE 402-426-2191 www.campbellaman.com

~~~ Obituary courtesy of the Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair Public Library at Blair, Nebraska.~~~