BOONE, Iowa—Lorna Jean Thomas, 88, of Boone, passed away Sunday, December 28, 2025, at Bethany Life in Story City.
Lorna was born December 13, 1937, in Lennox, South Dakota, the daughter of Cornelius and Florence (Buus) Albers. She attended school in Lennox.
She was united in marriage to LeRoy Newberg and to this union six children were born. They lived on a farm near Ellsworth, where they raised chickens, pigs, and lambs. The couple later divorced. Lorna later married Gary Lee Thomas, he passed away September 24, 2011.
Lorna worked in the custodial department at Iowa State University, where she retired from. She enjoyed baking and was very good at sewing (especially from all the practice she had repairing her children’s clothes as they grew up). Lorna was a long-time member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Cornelius and Florence; husband, Gary Lee Thomas; son, Rene Newberg; daughter, Rhonda Newberg; granddaughter, Megan Mann; great-grandson, Camryn Stonehocker; brother, Johan “John” Albers; two sisters, Tena Stone and Marie “Micki” Deboer.
Lorna is survived by her children, Rodney Newberg of Boone, Russell Newberg of Boone, Ronnie (Jeri) Newberg of Ogden, and Rachelle (Nick) Hansen of Boone; ten grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; five siblings, Neal (Pauline) Albers of Garretson, SD, Barb (Sam) Sletten of Lennox, SD, Albert Albers and his girlfriend Janice Ernestie of Lennox, SD, Darwin Albers of Lennox, SD, and Minnie Mathews of Mitchell, SD; and several nieces and nephews.
A funeral service will be held Monday, January 5, 2026, at 11:00 AM at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 1516 East 22nd Street, Boone, with Bishop Erick Johnson officiating. Visitation will from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM at the church on Monday. Burial will be in Bluff Creek Cemetery, west of Boone. The funeral service will be livestreamed and can be viewed on Lorna’s Tribute Wall on the Schroeder-Reimers Memorial Chapel website.
Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Schroeder-Reimers Memorial Chapel at Sixth and Marshall Streets in Boone. Online condolences may be left to Lorna’s family at www.schroedermemorialchapel.com
Lorna Thomas, 88, Boone, Iowa
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