Lois Cahoon

Lois Cahoon, passed away March 16, 2012, at her home, holding her daughter's hand surrounded by family and friends after a courageous six year battle with cancer. Services will be held at 10:00 am Thursday, March 22, at First Lutheran Church, 800 North 7th Street, Bismarck, with Rev. Allen Wagner officiating. Burial will be in Sunset Memorial Gardens, Bismarck. Visitation will be held from 5:00 to 7:00 pm Wednesday, March 21, at Parkway Funeral Service, 2330 Tyler Parkway, Bismarck. Lois was born to Evelyn and Reuben Krein on July 25, 1953. She was raised in Beulah, North Dakota. Her summers were spent with family custom combining from Oklahoma to North Dakota. As a young adult she moved to Bismarck, where she spent time as a secretary/receptionist and a medical transcriptionist at a Bismarck hospital. She met Mark Cahoon and they were married on May 23rd, 1975. To this union two children were born, Erica Marie and Cal Melvin. During this time Lois worked the farm in Baldwin, North Dakota, raising crops and tending to the livestock. She engaged in numerous entrepreneurial activities, including opening her own guitar studio where she mentored many students and led recitals. She trained and practiced acupressure/massage therapy, building a large cliental. It was at this time she began training in Tae Kwon Do achieving 2nd Degree black belt recognition, then opening her own school of martial arts. Her interests evolved to law enforcement, where she enrolled and graduated from the University of North Dakota Lake Region Police Academy in 1994. She accepted her first law enforcement position in her hometown of Beulah, ND. Lois then accepted a position with the Valley City Police Department in 1995. While working as a police officer, she attended Valley City State University obtaining a bachelor's degree in Human Resources in 2001. At the time of her death she was an active police officer, who proudly served with the Valley City Police Force for nearly 17 years. Lois had many passions in life including: home remodeling she always said she could tear any wall down, shopping, gardening, reading, traveling, which included visits to her children in Florida and Texas. She loved trying out different types of foods, and oh how she loved her coffee while socializing with family and friends! Lois had a passion for the holidays whether it was hiding Easter baskets for her children or helping Santa with Christmas. She loved playing games including: Chinese checkers, monopoly, pinochle, word and marbles games. It was not uncommon to find Lois sitting up all night with her coffee assembling massive puzzles. Lois is survived by her children, Erica Cahoon and Cal Krystal Cahoon; her brother, Levi Linda Krein, and her sister Lori Tim Klein. She is also survived by a special friend, Terry Zittelman, nephews: Monte Dawn Krein, Casey Krein, Kohl Klein, and Karsten Klein, many close friends, two fat cats and one angry bird. She was preceded in death by her parents and infant sister, Linda Krein. Throughout her life Lois was brave and was never afraid of taking a risk. As noted by her daughter in her dissertation dedication, "…My mother demonstrated by example throughout my life that nothing is impossible and there is no incident too severe for which you allow the smile to be removed from your face and the strength from your heart. Without seeing this firsthand Mom, I don't believe I would have succeeded. You are my inspiration…" Thank you mom. You are loved and missed.

Lois Cahoon

July 25, 1953 - March 16, 2012