Renate Christa Lunn

Surrounded by her family, and sleeping peacefully in her own bed at home, after a long illness, Renate Christa Lunn breathed her last breath on June 20, 2024. Renate took her first breath on December 23, 1940, in Berlin, Germany. She is survived by her husband Fred Lunn, son Ray Lunn, daughter Renate "Rechen" Lunn, brother Peter Reußner, sister-in-law Rosel Reußner, sister-in-law Robin Johnson, son-in-law Josh Lerner, and grandson Miro Lerner. She joins her brother Klaus Reußner and her parents Ernst and Liselotte Reußner in the afterlife.
Renate maintained a curiosity about the world throughout her life. Before she married, she traveled around Europe with her friends. She and her husband enjoyed trips to Jamaica (without kids!) where they floated in a hot air balloon. Later in life, she cruised with her family tasting pizza in Naples, visiting a train museum in Portland, Maine with Miro, and sailing through the Panama Canal.
On a fateful vacation to the United States in 1968, she met Fred Lunn and fell in love. They married one year later, and she moved to Oswego where Fred finished his Masters in Education.
Renate loved sharing what she learned. Professionally, she was an English teacher in Germany, a physical education teacher in Oswego, NY, and a substitute teacher at Hereford High. She gave swim lessons to the children of her neighborhood, culminating in the "Singletree Olympics" of 1972. Later in life, she helped her grandson, Miro, make pom poms for his stuffed animals.
She showed her kindness, generosity and creativity through her handiwork. Everyone she touched owns a scarf, sock, blanket or some other crocheted, stitched, or knit item handmade by Renate. She shared her love of crafting with the Hereford Homemakers Club, of which she was a member and president.
Renate impressed those around her with her perseverance in the face of the ataxia that slowly eroded balance and coordination. Over the course of four decades, she progressed from using a cane, to a walker, to a wheelchair, to an electric wheelchair full time. Renate's discipline and dedication to pushing the boundaries of what she could do physically earned her the respect and friendship of the physical therapists she worked with at Hereford Physical Therapy and Sparks Physical Therapy. Next time you debate doing another set of reps, think of Renate and then do them. She would.
Renate also possessed a dark sense of humor or as one of her physical therapists put it, "wit and slight sarcasm." Her earliest memories were of life on a farm in Germany with her two brothers and her mother, while her father was a prisoner of war of the Americans. After the war, children would kill mice in exchange for a bounty provided by the American soldiers. While her rodent killing did not extend to her adulthood, she enjoyed reading thrillers with a dark twist and sharing book recommendations with her physical therapists, friends, and family.
Renate lived in the same house in Hereford for over 50 years thanks to the dedication of her husband Fred and son Ray. Ray even studied to be a Certified Nursing Assistant to better care for his mother. Her regular home health aide Kayla Stevenson allowed her to remain in the comfort of her home while receiving outstanding care.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Renate's memory to the National Ataxia Foundation.
To send flowers
to the family or plant a tree
in memory of Renate Christa Lunn, please visit our floral store.