LORRAINE M. BILSKI

Lorraine M. Bilski, 91, of the Ashley section of Hanover Township, passed away on Tuesday, October 8, 2024, in Riverstreet Manor, just days after she learned she could not return to the home she lived in for nearly a century.

Born in Hanover Township, Lorraine was the daughter of the late Thomas and Sarah Hughes Maheady and was a graduate of Hanover High School. She worked as a seamstress in the garment industry and was an active member of St. Leo the Great Parish. Lorraine enjoyed spending time with family, frequenting local restaurants, gardening and religiously watching “Judge Judy” make fools of all the whackos, screwballs and wise asses who had it coming. She loved all animals (more than most people!), especially the many dogs and cats she adopted and cared for throughout her life — right up until her death.

While the details above paint a picture of Lorraine, it’s an incomplete one. Lorraine’s life was largely defined by perseverance in the face of heartbreak and hardship. She lost her father when she was just four, saw her only child succumb to cancer and watched all her siblings and most of her friends die well before her time was up. Lorraine also raised her son as a working single mother when such an arrangement was, to put it mildly, frowned upon by society — and she did so while simultaneously caring for a mother, with whom she had a complex and difficult relationship.

Lorraine herself was a complicated person defined by sometimes maddening contradictions, but she loved her family and her friends fiercely — in her own unique way — and took great pride in her independence and her ability to do it all on her own.

In addition to her parents, Lorraine was preceded in death by her beloved son, Gary Bilski, and her six siblings, sister Audrey Temperine and brothers Donald, John, Thomas, Leo, Lawrence and Donald Maheady.

Lorraine is survived by a daughter-in-law, grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces and nephews, great nieces and nephews and an array of cousins.

Funeral services will be conducted on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, at 10:30 am from the Lehman Family Funeral Service Inc., 689 Hazle Ave. in Wilkes-Barre, with a Mass of Christian Burial in St. Leo the Great Church, 33 Manhattan Street, Ashley, at 11:00 am. Pastor, Reverend Vincent Dang, will officiate.  Interment will follow in Maple Hill Cemetery in Hanover Township, after which a luncheon will follow.

Friends and family are invited to join the family at the funeral home from 9:30 am until time of service, Wednesday morning.

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