Lois Batson

LOIS CAROL BATSON

Cedar Rapids

Lois Carol Batson, 81, of Cedar Rapids, died Jan. 20, 2017, at the Ed and Joan Hemphill Inpatient Hospice Unit at St. Luke's Hospital following a chronic illness. She was cremated, as per her wishes. Services are at 11 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 26, at First Presbyterian Church in Cedar Rapids. Friends are invited to join the family from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 25, at the Cedar Rapids Marriott Hotel in the Cedar Rapids room to celebrate Lois's life and share fond memories and hors d'oeuvres.

Lois was born to William and Elsie (Radtke) Nickel on Nov. 17, 1935, in Spring Valley, Ill., and grew up on a farm near Princeton, Ill. She completed eight years in a one-room country school and graduated with county honors, graduated from Princeton High with honors and summa cum laude from Mount Mercy University in Cedar Rapids. Lois married the love of her life, Lowell Duane Batson, on April 22, 1955, in St. John's Lutheran "Church on the Hill" in Princeton. Lowell preceded her in death on June 27, 2011.

Survivors include her children: Thad Batson and his wife, Kim; Brett Batson and his wife, Lynn; Dirk Batson; and Echo Batson and her husband, Mike Ahart. Five grandchildren also survive: Melissa Wolters and her husband, Matt; Zachary Batson and his wife, Rebecca; Lauren Conley and her husband, Eric; Jillian Martin and her husband, Japheth, and Ariel Martin and her husband, Konrad. Also surviving are nine great- grandchildren: Anika, Elise, Madelyn and Ethan Conley; Wesley and Whitney Batson; Azure and Lilly Martin; and Jasper Wolters. Her younger brother, Donald Nickel of Kenai, Alaska, also survives.

She was preceded in death by her husband; brother, William Nickel; and sister, Eleanor Beams.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the Ed and Joan Hemphill Inpatient Hospice Unit at St. Luke's or the Alzheimer's Association.

Please share a memory of Lois at www.murdochfuneralhome.com under obituaries.