Helen Lou (Tolman) Lorenz

SPRING HILL — Helen Lou (Tolman) Lorenz, 72, of Spring Hill passed away Sunday, Feb. 19, 2023, in Olathe.

Helen Lou (Tolman) Lorenz was born to Eugene and Alice (Eden) Tolman on Aug. 27, 1950, in Lander, Wyoming, and was welcomed into heaven on Sunday, Feb. 19, 2023. Helen grew up in the Pavillion, Wyoming, area on a dairy farm homesteaded by her parents with siblings Eugene (Junior), Barbara (Bobi), Catherine (Cathie) and Floyd.

She attended elementary and junior high school in Pavillion. Her family moved from Wyoming in 1965 to Parsons, where she attended school and graduated from Parsons High School in 1968.

Helen met her future husband, Jim Lorenz, an engineer trainee for the Katy Railroad in Parsons, while he also worked at the Parsonian Hotel restaurant and Wicker’s Shoe Store. They married on Oct. 4, 1975, and celebrated 48 loving years of marriage. They raised their two children, Bart and Nicole, in rural Parsons.

After starting to raise her family, Helen graduated from Labette Community College in 1984 as a registered nurse and attended Pittsburg State University, where she studied nursing. Helen worked for many years at Labette County Medical Center in Parsons, initially caring for patients on the hospital floor and later in the surgery rooms. She transitioned to St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Joplin to work in cardiovascular surgery. Eventually, she retired from nursing as director of home health and hospice for Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri. Providing loving care for her many patients and working side-by-side with amazing medical teammates were among her life passions and ministries.

In addition to her nursing career, she also supported Jim’s entrepreneurial pursuits in the construction, farming, ranching and oil and gas industries. They “retired” together running J.D.’s Gun Shop on Main Street in Parsons from 2014 to 2019. During their time in Parsons, they were active members of the Center Bethel Church.

In 2020, Jim and Helen set out for a new adventure moving to Atwood, Colorado, to follow their son and his family. They then moved to Spring Hill in 2022 to live near their daughter and her family. They quickly found a new church family at the Antioch Baptist Church in Spring Hill.

Helen’s hobbies included flower gardening, reading, being involved in various church ministries and spending time with her loved ones, including attending her grandchildren’s many extracurricular activities.

She is survived and will be dearly missed by her husband, Jim Lorenz of Spring Hill; a son, Bart Lorenz (Lisa) of Gulf Shores, Alabama; a daughter, Nicole Pemberton (Chris) of Spring Hill; her grandchildren, Carl Hutchison (Teresa), Matt Hutchison, Ashton Howard, Dalton Lorenz, Jamie Pemberton, Josie Pemberton and Julia Pemberton; six great-grandchildren, Lyllee, Damien, Trenton, Avery, Tatum and Halsey; and her siblings, Eugene Tolman (Thann), Barbara Shrodt (Richard), Catherine Todd (Wayne) and Floyd Tolman (Patty).

Helen was preceded in death by her parents, Eugene and Alice Tolman. 

Helen’s celebration of life will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 4, at Antioch Baptist Church in Spring Hill. The family will receive visitors starting at 10 a.m. 

The family suggests memorials to Biblefacts Ministry (BibleFacts.org) or the American Cancer Society (cancer.org). 

Leave online condolences at www.brucefuneralhome.com.