Friday, November 17, 2023
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So sorry to hear of Loreen's passing. My mother, Kazuko Obokata, met Loreen when they shared a desk at Central Collegiate in the mid-1940s. Loreen was very kind to my mom, which was exceptional for the time, as much public sentiment had turned against Japanese-Canadian people. They kept in touch over the years, as Loreen and my mom both lived in old South. I remember my father once had a letter that needed to be translated from Swedish, and he took it over to Loreen, who was happy to put her Swedish knowledge to good use. I later learned that Loreen was the aunt of my good friend, Kim Baker. In 2012, I took my mom for a tour of Royalcliffe and we visited Loreen. It was great to bring these two great women together. Loreen expressed her apologies for not knowing way back in the 1940s all the hardships that my mother had lived through. Loreen was a very classy woman.
