LOLLITA MOONE

LOLITA "FERGIE/SISTER" MOONE Lolita "Fergie/Sister" Moone was born Lollita Don Ferguson in Duluth, MN on December 9th, 1945 to Don and Myrtle (Jackson) Ferguson. Lolita had an adventurous childhood. She, along with her brother Ricky and parents moved to Kalispell, MT. It was there, at the age of 12 where she purchased her first horse Apache for $75 from a used car dealer - sparking a lifelong love of horses. She attended school at Greenway-Coleraine, Bigfork, Grand Rapids, Squaw Lake, and graduated from Falls High School in 1963. When she was 15, she met her future husband on horseback after her best friend Jaci Wallen (Otto) challenged him to a race. While Lolita won that day, Ray was the real winner, marrying Lolita two years later on August 31st, 1963. Lolita devoted herself to raising their daughters, Donita and Rayetta. She worked a variety of jobs, but always loved reminiscing about her time waitressing at the Rex hotel. Lolita shared her love of horses with others, providing riding lessons to people of all ages. Lolita and Ray mentored many young riders instilling a lifelong love for horsemanship and helping them to achieve success in the horse world. Along with giving riding lessons she and her husband owned Painted 4 Moone ranch where they bred, raised, trained, raced and showed horses across Minnesota and Canada for over 60 years. Led by Lolita, the Moone family's life became centered around the love of horses. Not only her children have taken part in this way of life but also her grandchildren and now great grandchildren. Lolita was a member of Arrowhead Saddle Club Association for over 50 years and a member of the Rainy River Rider Saddle Club for over 60 years. A highlight of her horse career was winning the Minnesota Pinto Horse Association Overall Games Grand Champion Award on her self trained Lolita's Apache. They traveled over 3,000 miles that summer beating many high caliber expensive horses. Even at 76 years old, she was still winning horse show trophies and was overjoyed to see her great-grandchildren ride as well. Lolita enjoyed fishing and spending weekends at horse shows, horse races, and time at "The Farm" in Wirt. Every fall, Lolita and her husband Ray would make and sell Christmas wreaths that were shipped internationally and also for members of the community. They later provided wreaths to the figure skating club as the group's major fundraiser. They took pride in every wreath made to ensure each one would bring smiles to the recipient's faces. Lolita had a love for music and singing; she was once asked to sing on the Opry circuit but decided to stay home and care for her daughters. She learned to play guitar from her father and later passed her love for music to her family, inspiring her grandchildren Sethen, Sean, and Katie Ray to play guitar and sing. Lolita loved her 6 grandchildren, she never missed an opportunity to cheer them on at their sports games, plays, concerts, and recitals. Lolita was preceded in death by her parents, Don and Myrt Ferguson; her brother, Ricky Ferguson; sister-in-laws, Julie Bogacki and Rhoda Moone; brother-in-law, Harold Udovich; nephew, Ricky Bogacki; nieces, Konnie Bogacki, Michelle (Ferguson) Locke, and Dawn Ferguson; and her two beloved horses, Lolita's Apache and Black Bo. Lolita is survived by her husband of 61 years, Raymond Moone; her daughters, Donita (Tony) Ettestad and Rayetta (David) Murray; grandchildren Sethen (Sarah) Ettestad, Sean (Brittany) Murray, Lukas (Cheyenne) Ettestad, Katherine (Cody) Werner, Jakob (Ashlynn) Ettestad, and Isabella (Cody) Ettestad; and great-grandchildren Lenore, Aldrich (Ollie), Eden, Esme, and one future little cowboy. Lolitas's life was enriched this past year by the loving caregivers at Ridgeview Assisted Living. During her final days she was blessed with compassionate care from Rainy Lake Medical Center Staff. The family invites you to a celebration of life on Saturday, February 8th, 2025, at Zion Lutheran Church with a period of remembrance at 12:00 PM and services at 1:00 PM, followed by a social gathering. Condolences may be left on www.greenlarsen.com Arrangements are with Green-Larsen Mortuary, Inc.