Grafton – Lois L. (Eaton) Gundrum, 67, cherished wife of Rynard G. Gundrum, died December 27, 2010, at Albany Medical Center Hospital as a result of being stricken with a brain aneurysm at her family business on December 15.
Lois was born in Sutton, MA, on June 20, 1943, to the late John A. Eaton and Alta MacLaren Eaton. One of the eldest of many cousins raised in Sutton under the loving and formidable eye of their grandmother MacLaren, Lois lived the classic 1950s small town, American childhood. A natural athlete, she overcame paralysis brought on by a childhood bout with polio by swimming strenuously and went on to excel in sports, lettering in both varsity basketball and softball at Sutton High School, from which she graduated in 1961. Lois attended Fitchburg State College and then entered the nursing program at Hahnemann Hospital in Worcester, MA.
Lois’ roommate in nursing school introduced her to Rynard Gundrum in early 1963. While she was smitten with his good looks and his shiny 1960 Corvette, she was completely swept away by his big dreams that matched his hard-driving ambition. Rynard fell helplessly in love with Lois’ smile, her energy, her positive spirit and her zest for everything American life had to offer. Thus began their journey of 47 years together.
Lois and Rynard began their family with the birth of their daughter Ingrid in 1964. They moved to Babcock Lake in Rynard’s hometown of Grafton, NY, in 1965. The birth of their son Rynard, Jr. followed in 1966.
In the mid-1960s, Lois and Rynard operated The Lodge at Babcock Lake, the first of many business collaborations together. The Lodge was a popular summer spot that featured great food, drink, live bands and dancing, and Lois is remembered fondly by Rynard’s sisters and the local girls for teaching them the latest dance steps of the day. The Lodge was followed by Gundrum Logging, Gundrum Car Crushing and, finally, Gundrum Lumber in 1973. For 37 years Lois devoted herself to establishing and promoting Gundrum Lumber as a leader in the manufacture of the highest quality furniture grade lumber.
Lois was active in Grafton Town government, serving as an elected Assessor and Planning Board Member for many years beginning in the 1980s. More recently she devoted her time and expertise as a consultant to the members of the Berlin School Board.
Revisiting her passion for the medical field in the early 1990s, Lois joined the Grafton Rescue Squad, attained her EMT certification and gave years of selfless service to the residents of Grafton and neighboring communities. For her service, in 2002, she was honored with the Governor’s Award for “Capital Women Sustaining the American Spirit.” Lois also donated her time and services to the medical team for the Ski Patrol at Jiminy Peak.
On her “gentlewoman’s farm” on “the hill behind the mill,” Lois presided over a menagerie of livestock, including the rescued horses for whom she and Rynard provided a safe home. She was an avid vegetable gardener, and season after season her homegrown canned goods graced the Gundrum family table. She was a talented needleworker who enjoyed knitting and cross-stitching, and she had a special passion for the art of quilting, which she loved to do with her late sister-in-law Hilda Gundrum Goyer and her mother-in-law, Charlotte Momrow.
Lois and Rynard traveled the Caribbean together for years with friends and family, with their
getaways to Aruba in particular holding a special place in her heart. In 1995 Lois and her brother Jeffrey toured the British Isles with their mother Alta and their aunt Jeannette, returning to the ancient Clan MacLaren family seat at Creag an Tuirc, Balquhidder, Scotland.
Lois was the adored “Greica” to her grandchildren, a fun-loving, hands-on grandmother on the sidelines at their sporting events, playing with them on the weekends at the farm and teaching them to waterski well into her sixties at her beloved Dyken Pond.
In later years, Lois and Rynard enjoyed the simpler pleasures of cruising the back roads in one of their classic automobiles, watching Red Sox games and continuing to share their combined energies at Gundrum Lumber. With love and admiration for one another that never waned, they acknowledged, and thrived upon, the challenges of being romantic partners and business partners for 47 years.
In addition to her husband and mother, Lois is survived by her daughter, Ingrid Gundrum, her son, Rynard Gundrum, Jr. and his wife Susan, her grandchildren, Francesca, Olivia and Tyler Gundrum – all of Grafton, her brother, Jeffrey H. Eaton and his wife Sissy of Weathersfield, VT, her mother-in-law, Charlotte Momrow, her brothers-in-law, Gordon H. Gundrum and wife Joan, George T. Gundrum, Peter W. Gundrum, Jerry Gundrum, Charles Momrow and John Momrow and his wife Susan, and her sisters-in-law, Virginia Horn and husband George, Rita Smythe and husband Jim, Susan Dayton and husband Wayne and Sally Moon, as well as her dear aunt, Jeannette Winslow, numerous nieces, nephews and cousins and countless friends whose lives she touched.
Lois is pre-deceased by her father, John A. Eaton, her sister-in-law and dear friend, Hilda Goyer, and sisters-in- law, Bertha Rathbun, Janet Ward and Elizabeth Esposito.
In addition to her family, Lois is survived by her beloved employees and their families at Gundrum Lumber, Stephen MacDonald, Roger Gentner, Walter Ruebel, Michael Seyerlein, Mark Seyerlein, Andrew Crandall, Richard Brown, Michael Palmer, Lawrence Radley, Tommy VanBuskirk, Ron Howard and Butch Hall.
Arrangements are under the direction of the Thomas J. Barber Funeral Home, Armsby Road, Petersburgh, NY. A Celebration of Lois’ life will be held in the spring, with interment at the Saratoga National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Grafton Rescue Squad.