DODGE CITY, KANSAS - Lorene Julia Herron, age 84, of Dodge City took the Lord's hand on February 23, 2023 walking out of her tired crippled body and into the gates of Heaven. Lorene was born July 21, 1938 in Pueblo Colorado to William and Francine Salem (Shoe), becoming the second oldest of their ten children. Lorene was a long-time resident of Jetmore, where she spent her days as a homemaker and worked odd jobs to make ends meet, she was of the Christian faith attending the United Methodist Church on a regular basis.

Lorene had many things she was passionate about, the first being root beer floats, she loved to play bingo, was a puzzle book working machine and would in fact burn through a couple per week.  She often gave her bingo prizes to her great grandchildren that she loved dearly.  Lorene's most prized belongings were her grandchildren and great grandchildren, if someone was around, she made sure they knew who her grand kids were. She even claimed neighborhood kids that were in the area playing with her grandkids, this was often the Mariche and Jones kids. If you grew up around Lorene's house you were never hungry as she made the best peanut butter and syrup sandwiches' with daily made sun tea to wash it down.

In her later years in life Lorene's hand became crippled up and it always looked as if she was holding a fist ready to fight, in truth Lorene had been fighting her whole life. Being one of ten children, she often had to go without and stopped attending school to help the family but this never fazed her and she kept pushing forward. On June 23, 2003 after many years of waiting and trying Lorene was able to accomplish one of her goals by gaining her High School diploma.

On September 27, 1955 Lorene married Vincent Fitzgerald in Clayton, New Mexico. The newlyweds started their family in Ness City, Ks before eventually moving to Jetmore. They were married for 37 years before Vincent passed away on August 7, 1992. From their marriage came five children Beverley, Loretta, William, Barbra and Edmond.

After Vincent passed Lorene found herself moving around some but eventually settled in Dodge City, Ks. It was there where she found her love Stephen" Stats" Herron.  The two shared many adventures together including a road trip or two. Lorene quickly found herself becoming a sports fan since Steve was a sports fanatic, with KU being her favorite all around team. Together they attend all sorts of ball games, collected and sorted sports trading cards and watched games on tv. It didn't seem to ever be a dull moment for Lorene as she finally found fun in her life. Lorene and Stephen were married on October 2, 1998 in Dodge City, KS. They never left each other's side in 15 years until Steve's death on August 9, 2014.

Lorene is proceeded in death by her parents, husbands' Vincent Fitzgerald and Stephen Herron, daughter Beverly Campbell, sons' William (Bill) and Edmund (Eddie) Fitzgerald, sisters' Wanita Smith and Mary Fancher, brothers' Orval, Charles and Emmett Salem, grandson Byron Campbell, granddaughter Malinda Jarvis and great granddaughter Tianna Rodriquez.

Lorene is survived by her daughters' Loretta Fitzgerald of Dodge City; Barbra Simcox of New London, Wisconsin; adopted daughter/friend Linda Pack of Dodge City; sisters, Lilly Harris (Elza) of Noble, Oklahoma; Betty Whitlock of Nobe; Bernadine Mitchell (Forrest) of Noble, Dorthy Kardokus (Steve) of Flowermound, Texas; 14 grandchildren; and 26 great grandchildren.

Funeral service will be at 2:00 pm Monday, February 27, 2023 at Ziegler Funeral Chapel, Dodge City, with Pastor Heath Ormord officiating.  Burial will follow in Fairmount Cemetery, Jetmore.  Visitation will be Sunday from 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm at Ziegler Funeral Chapel with the family present from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm.

In lieu of flowers the family suggest memorials to the Lorene Herron Memorial Fund in care of Ziegler Funeral Chapel, 1901 N. 14 ^th Ave., Dodge City, Kansas 67801.