Lorene (Grimes) VanBuren

Friday, July 11, 2014
Lorene (Grimes) VanBuren

Lorene (Grimes) VanBuren 1947 -- 2014, a resident of Pittsburg, Kan., departed the earth and pain of cancer to be with her Heavenly Father on July 8, 2014.

She was born in Fort Scott, Kan., to Claude L. and Frances (Wolfe) Grimes but spent much of her adult life in Arizona. A graduate of Fort Scott High School and Fort Scott Community College, Lorene married Gilbert Niemeir Dec. 17, 1966; they later divorced.

In recent years Lorene's primary hobbies have been knitting and crochet. In addition to handcrafting items for herself, family and friends, she has contributed baby and toddler caps to the local Salvation Army Christmas program and chemo caps to the Via Christi Cancer Center.

She owned and operated The Yarn Basket yarn shop in downtown Pittsburg from the spring of 2007 to the fall of 2012.

Lorene is survived by siblings Alice Grimes, Farlington, Kan., and Larry (Barbara) Grimes, Fort Scott, Kan. Also surviving are two children: Daniel (Mandy) Niemeir, Muscatine, Iowa and Patricia Dianne (James) Galimi, Goldsboro, N.C.; four grandchildren: Rachael Matthews, Mitchel Kendall, Katelynn Rudolph, and Jacob Niemeir; and two great grandchildren: Emma and Connor.

She is preceded in death by her parents and great granddaughter Annabeth.

Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Friday, July 11, 2014 at the Bath-Naylor Funeral Home with Major Deborah Gugala officiating. Burial will follow in the Centerville Cemetery in Bourbon County, Kan. Family will receive friends at the funeral home from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday evening. Condolences may be left at www.bathnaylor.com. In lieu of flowers donations to Salvation Army Women's Ministries or Southeast Kansas Humane Society. Services by Bath-Naylor funeral Home 522 S. Broadway Pittsburg, Kan.