Jean Marie Laughlin
How do we begin to write an obituary for our mom? How can we summarize in a few words what she means to us? We can try by setting down details about life. She was born in Billings, Montana, on Feb. 8, 1942, to Helen and Sigurd Nordlund. The oldest of four kids, she had three younger brothers (David, John and Ron). She spoke fondly about growing up in Montana and especially of going fishing and camping with her dad. She loved to ride her bike around town. She spent a lot of time with her aunts, who weren’t much older than she, and always looked up to them.
After high school, she moved to Spokane, Washington, where she studied at Sacred Heart School of Nursing. There, she met the women she would call her lifelong best friends and graduated a registered nurse. While many women of her time went into nursing for a job, for her, it was a calling. She committed her life to the profession. She went on to get a bachelor’s degree in nursing administration and a master’s degree in health science. She loved learning and she loved helping people. She spent the last decade of her career in hospice.
It was while she was living in Spokane that she met our father, Larry Profitt. They soon married and had four daughters (Stacy, Shannon, Stephanie and Suzy). After they divorced, she married Mack Laughrin in 1981 and welcomed his two kids into our family (Ann and Doug).
These facts describe what our mom did with her life, but they do not capture how she lived her life. They do not tell you that our mother never had an unkind word for anyone. That she always stopped the car to help hurt animals. How she brought people who didn’t have a home to go to for Christmas to our house for Christmas and made them feel like they really were home. They don’t capture her unending desire to see new places, meet new people and explore the world.
Perhaps most importantly, though, they do not convey how a moment never went by without us knowing that she was always there for us. Beyond being a kind person, a compassionate nurse and a person interested in understanding this world, she was our mom. She was with each of us since day one, and no day going forward will be the same.
She is survived by her brothers David, Ron and John; her daughters Shannon (Donald Kidd), Stephanie (Serge Kogan), and Suzy; her son-in-law Scott Wickstrom (Stacy); three beautiful grandchildren; and Mack’s kids, Ann and Doug.
Funeral services will be held at Michelotti-Sawyers on Thursday Dec. 16th at 10:00 am. Graveside service at Holy Cross immediately following. Reception held at Hilands Golf Club 12:30.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Jean Marie (Nordlund) Laughrin, please visit our flower store.
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