Frances Lorraine Hidding

Frances Lorraine Niemer Finley Hidding
Lorraine Hidding of Hendersonville, NC, died peacefully in the early morning of January 8, 2024, in her home, surrounded by loved family members.
Lorraine was born March 8, 1927, in rural Fennimore, Wisconsin, to Frank and Maude Niemer. She was the 7th of 10 children and her family meant everything to her. She grew up in a home filled with music and musicians, and the Niemers often spent hours playing music together and singing.
Maude on the piano and Frank playing the violin, all the children playing different instruments or singing. Her life was filled with accomplishments, but wasn't always easy. She lost her mother at age 13. In turn, her elder sisters and brothers filled in and helped to raise her. This experience deepened her appreciation for family, and that appreciation never wavered.
She earned her degree at the University of Wisconsin, and graduated in 1949. She took her first teaching position at Bryant School, Bryant, South Dakota. In Bryant, she met and married John Finley, and started her own family. She carried eight children, and seven of them survived to adulthood.
John's work eventually brought them to Quincy, Illinois, and she lived there for the next 24 years. She was a full time Mom and by the late 1960s, a full-time teacher, as well. She taught at St. Francis Solanus School until her retirement in 1985. She loved hearing from her former students as she grew older. She had a positive impact on SO many kids.
Lorraine was widowed for the first time in 1979 with John's early passing. In 1984, she married Paul J. Hidding, of Hendersonville, NC, formerly of Keokuk, Iowa. She moved to Hendersonville at the completion of the 1985 school year. A retired gentleman farmer and Naval Commander, Paul introduced Lorraine to a larger world. Together, they traveled the world and she continued to be a regular traveler for many years after his death in 2001.
Lorraine was a teacher at heart, and mentored many younger teachers over the years. Even though retired, she volunteered many hours of time as a teacher's aide (to her "fourth daughter" Robin Riley) at Immaculata School in Hendersonville and Cleveland Academy of Leadership in Spartanburg, SC.
To her children, she was Mom. To her many grandchildren, she was Oma, Grandma, or Granny (which she didn't really like) or Gram (which she preferred).
She was a life-long musician. She was the band director at Bryant School at age 22, and played the euphonium for two different community bands in North Carolina. She played until she was nearly 90 years old. The only thing that stopped her was that the horn became too heavy to carry! All of her children inherited her musical DNA and every one played an instrument.
She was a practicing Catholic all her life, and had a deep faith that sustained her until the end. She will be greatly missed. She will never be forgotten. She took care of her family all her life. It was always the most important thing.
She was preceded in death by all nine of her siblings, an infant daughter (Mary), her son Charles (d. 2018), two infant great-grandchildren (Taigen and Bentley) and husbands John Finley and Paul Hidding. She is survived by her son Jim Finley of Carpentersville, IL, daughter Beth (Dave) Likens of Waltonville, IL, daughter-in-law Kathy (Charles) Finley of Quincy, IL, son John Finley of Hendersonville, NC, son Tom (Jody) Finley of East Moline, IL, daughter Kat Finley of Cherokee, NC, and daughter Jeanne (Jim) Aschemann of Quincy, IL, in addition to numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, cousins, nieces and nephews.
A private family service will be held in the spring with a Mass of Christian Burial and interment in Calvary Cemetery in Quincy, IL. Memorial contributions may be made in lieu of flowers to Immaculate Conception Catholic Church of Hendersonville, NC or Saint Francis Solanus School of Quincy, IL.