Margaret Mae “Sally” Loranger Sept. 5, 1929 – Nov. 4, 2024

Sally Loranger, a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and devoted friend, died peacefully on November 4th in Sparks, Nevada with her family faithfully by her side. Sally had recently celebrated her 95th birthday.

Margaret Mae Loranger, née Hayes and always known as Sally, was born September 5th, 1929 in Missoula, Montana, the daughter of William Michael (Mike) and Mae Hayes. Michael was an electrician for Montana Bell, and for the Anaconda Company’s smelter in Montana. Mae ran the house and played the piano, playing so well that she and Mike became the house band at the local Ancient Order of Hibernia. 

Sally went to Catholic school in Anaconda and spent her summers in Saltese, a little town in western Montana where her grandmother and uncle lived. She was a good student and graduated from high school in 1945, when she was only 16 years old. She thought she might be a nurse some day, but felt she was too young to go away to school. Despite her own thwarted ambitions, she made sure that all her children understood the importance of an education, a lesson they all took to heart.

Sally worked for several years at a grocery store in Anaconda, clerking, stocking, and taking delivery orders. While she was working there, she met her soon-to-be husband, Harry. In 1951 they dated while he was on leave from the service. This courtship changed their lives forever. After returning to his post in New Jersey, Harry and Sally began a mutual correspondence. Several months later, while Harry was again on leave in Anaconda and on his way to a duty station in Alaska, they were engaged to be married. From August 1952 until his discharge from the Army in February 1953, they wrote to one another every single day. Harry and Sally were married in May 1953 at St. Paul’s Church in Anaconda.

The Lorangers’ first two children, Dennis (1954) and Dan (1955), were born in Battle Mountain, Nevada, while Harry was working for the Southern Pacific Railroad. Tom (1957) was born in Anaconda, while Tim (1960) and John (1961) were born in Butte. Twins Michael and Michele (1965) were born in Reno. 

Both Harry and Sally imbued a deep love for sports in all of their children. They faithfully attended their childrens’ sporting events including traversing Nevada to watch Dennis and Dan’s Manogue Miners win multiple state football championships. In Reno, they would shuttle from game-to-game. Baseball season was a particularly busy time; they would sometimes only stay for two innings of one child’s game so they could cross town to attend another.

As the children matured, requiring less attention, Sally sought employment outside the house. She found work as a librarian at Sierra Vista Elementary School, where she was beloved by the students, and was a congenial colleague of the faculty and staff.

While working at Sierra Vista, at the age of 54, Sally was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, a notoriously lethal form of the disease. She endured the surgery and subsequent treatment with quiet and resolute endurance. Sally beat the odds and was declared cancer-free a year later.

After retiring, Harry and Sally moved to Grass Valley, California, where they lived for 15 years. They settled into a lovely house in the Sierra woods and made several life-long friends. But whatever beauty and advantages the area may have offered, they missed being with their family and moved back to Reno in 2004.

In addition to her familial devotion, Sally was a voracious reader, consuming everything from romance novels to historical fiction. In later years her failing vision made reading more and more difficult, but audio books served as a somewhat adequate substitute. The last book she listened to was the epic novel, The Far Pavilions. Sadly she never got to finish it.

Even more important than reading was Sally’s devotion to the Church. She faithfully attended Mass, even in her later years when physical infirmities made such attendance difficult. And she also faithfully said the Rosary every day. 

Sally was always a loving mother to her family, and a generous mother-in-spirit to all her friends. She brought people together for holidays, social occasions, spontaneous get-togethers, or whenever she felt we had been away from each other for too long. Besides being a gracious hostess, she was a great cook, and especially loved to make desserts that were dangerously delicious.

Sally is survived by: sons Dennis of Dayton, OH (spouse Carol and children Byron and Gabe); Dan of Grass Valley, CA (partner Shannon); Tom of Arlington, VA (spouse Elizabeth and children Michael, Andrew, and Allison); Tim of Sparks, NV (Spouse Beverly and children Kathleen, Molly, and Teague); John of Sparks, NV (spouse Denise); Mike of Reno, NV (children Amelia, Jack, Becket, Emerson, and Loic); daughter Michele of Moraga, CA (spouse Bill Pelter and children Will and Elliott); brother-in-law Don Loranger of Anaconda, MT. Further beloved family members are Norine Jeppson, Veronica Jeppson, Tammy Porto, Alicia Golden, great-grandchildren Vanessa, Jacqueline, Devlin, Cortlyn, and Daemon as well as numerous nephews, nieces, and other relatives.

Sally was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Harry; her parents Mike and Mae; sisters Jodie (spouse Carl) and Helen (spouse Joe), and brother Patrick.

Special thanks from the Lorangers to Sally’s neighbor, Alan Maldonado, her “guardian angel.” 

A funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. on Monday, November 25th at Holy Cross Catholic Church; 5650 Vista Blvd.; Sparks, NV 89436.

Flowers are welcome, but Sally contributed faithfully to St Jude Children’s Hospital (www.stjudes.org/donatetoday).