Lura Nunn

1920 - 2025

Lura Nunn
Traverse City Michigan
March 28, 2025
Lura Nunn, age 104, died in her sleep on March 28, 2025. What a life!
Lura Powell was born in Bellaire, MI on June 14, 1920. She grew up fifth in a family with eight children. Her early life was on a farm but this big, boisterous family moved to Grand Rapids during the Depression. She graduated from Union High School and then went to Albion College where.
she was active in swimming, archery and volleyball and sang with an a cappella choir. She graduated with high honors at age 19. After college she decided to develop secretarial skills and enrolled in Grand Rapids Commercial College where one of her instructors, Robert Nunn, thought she was an exceptional student and became interested in her future. They married December 20, 1941. He served in the Navy during WWII, while Lura worked in a factory that made airplane parts. Finally the war was over and they bought a two-acre farm south of Grand Rapids. This was a busy time for Lura as the family grew to five children, with two dogs, chickens, a goat, a big vegetable garden, six sugar maple trees and a heavily used clothesline.
Then, in 1956 the family moved to Manistee. Here Lura continued a busy life, supporting various activities with the school system, library and the Methodist church. Robert and the children were active with the Ramsdell Theater, but Lura stayed out of spotlight. She watched the five children as they all finished Jefferson School and Manistee High School, grew up and went off to college. Family reunions were important events and she enjoyed the opportunity to trade news with her siblings and eighteen nieces and nephews, either at home or anywhere in Michigan. She enjoyed reading, opera, classical music, bridge, puns and word games, As the children grew, she and Robert had more free time and began to travel internationally including trips to Canada, England and Italy.
After almost 50 years of marriage, Robert died November 20, 1990. Lura continued to travel extensively. She went scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef, tutored English with students in Poland, walked on the Great Wall of China, visited Lhasa, Tibet (elev 12,000 feet), Russia, and the Galapagos Islands. In 1997 she visited Antarctica, her seventh continent. As she neared age 100 she moved to Orchard Creek assisted living facility in Traverse City. Here a librarian visited monthly to find non-fiction books of interest. And she continued to enjoy visits from her large family.
She is survived by children Elizabeth (William) Mills of Maryville, TN, Robert Nunn (Nancy Engel) of Monroe Twp. NJ, Geoffrey (Cheryl) Nunn of Stanwood, WA, Douglas (Vicki) Nunn of Haslett, and Rebecca (David) Walker of Traverse City. Grandchildren are Geoffrey (Erin) Nunn of Tukwila, WA with children Geoffrey and Robert, Kristin (Anthony) O'Neill of Portage with daughter Rowan, Jessica (Andre) Lang of Lynwood, WA with children Brooklyn, William and Evelyn, David (Alexandria) Walker of Grand Rapids with children Reiley and Alden, Nyal Nunn of Burlingame, CA, Lucas Nunn of Lansing, Elizabeth Nunn of Seattle, WA, and Katharine Nunn of San Diego, CA. For more information, please visit Reynolds-Jonkhoff.com.