Lois Arline Yngve

Lois Arline (Johnson) Yngve, 82, passed away quickly but peacefully on May 14, 2022, with her two children by her side.
She was born in Worcester on August 24, 1939 to her Swedish-born parents, Elmer and Olga Johnson. She lived most of her childhood on Vernon Hill where her parents owned the neighborhood corner store, Elmer & Bill's. She graduated in 1957 from Commerce High School as a Horace Mann Scholarand enjoyed some classes at Clark University.Lois worked hard in her teens and twenties. She worked in multiple businesses before becoming a full-time secretary at Johnson Steel & Wire. Lois also served as the organist and choir director of her much-beloved church, Grace Baptist. She particularly loved playing organ postludes and duets with her father, an accomplished violinist. She lived frugally, saving her money to travel around the country and go abroad with friends. In 1969, she bought a cottage on a small lake in Manchaug, where her family continues to enjoy countless hours of swimming, fishing, boating, and birdwatching.
In her thirties, Lois became the organist at the Salem Covenant Church in Worcester. Not long after, she helped establish the Salem Four, playing piano and curating a variety of music from gospel to barbershop for the quartet: Jack Berg, Bryan Foster, Paul Keisling, and Calvin Yngve. The quartet performed and traveled with their families for decades. One of the highlights of her music career was designing and leading a pops concert with the quartet, adult choir, and children's choir that included music from Fiddler on the Roof.
Lois and Calvin married in 1973, eventually moving to North Attleboro to raise their children, Rick and Kristen. Every day, she cooked three square meals and made her house smell like a Swedish bakery. A full-time mom, she also worked as the organist and choir director of the Evangelical Covenant Church in Attleboro, and later played piano for their children's choir.
As she had wanted to, Lois happily lived in her home of 40 years until only a couple of days before her passing, under the care of her daughter, son-in-law, and "guardian angel" dognamed Arizona. Kristen ensured she had an endless supply of strong coffee and Breyers vanilla ice cream. Lois could not wait for the summertime when her three cherished grandsons would visit for several weeks, filling her home with boundless activityand joy. She was enormously grateful for her longtime next-door neighbors in North Attleboro and Sutton, whose extended families became part of her own.
In the weeks before her passing, she often expressed gratitude for her family and all the people who showed her kindness and appreciation. She saw her beautiful front garden, of which she was so proud, in full bloom. She baked her mom's recipe for lemon meringue pie for the Easter holiday gathering at her sister's house. One of her favorite birds, the Baltimore Oriole, returned to her backyard on Mother's Day morning. But most of all, she was so proud of her children, children-in-law, and grandsons - not just for how well they are doing, but for who people they have grown to be.
She will be most remembered for her music, cardamom-infused pecan rolls and pepparkakor cookies, quick-witted zingers, Swedish stubbornness, and sweet smile.
Lois is survived by her sister Barbara Stidsen and her husband Hank of Paxton; her sister-in-law June Johnson of South Yarmouth; her son Richard Yngve and wife Erica of Tucson; her daughter Kristen and husband Jim Casey of North Attleboro; three grandsons, Luke, Zeke, and Jake; several cousins, nieces, nephews, and many good friends and amazing neighbors. She is predeceased by her parents Elmer and Olga (Wilhelmson) Johnson, and her brother Richard "Bill" Johnson.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, July 9, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. at the Salem Covenant Church on 215 East Mountain Street in Worcester, followed by a light reception.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the WGBH Educational Foundation, Attention: WGBH Office of Gift Planning and Endowment, One Guest Street, Boston Massachusetts, 02135 or via the WGBH website: www.wgbh.org/tribute
For additional information, or to send the family a written expression of sympathy, please visit our online guestbook
at www.dyer-lakefuneralhome.com
Arrangements are under the direction of the Dyer-LakE Funeral Home, 161 Commonwealth Avenue, Village of Attleboro Falls, North Attleboro, MA (508) 695-0200