Lois Elaine Wilcox, nèe Trommer, was born to Josephine Schoenberg and Ervin Trommer in Milwaukee on Feb. 7, 1930. The eldest of three children, she grew up during the Depression and World War II eras, and graduated high school in 1948.

During that same year, she met and fell in love with the love of her life, Maurice C. (Rod) Wilcox. They eloped to Waukegan, Ill., on March 16, 1949. Children soon followed, five of them altogether in two sets. Susan, Steven, and Joseph came first, and they moved from Milwaukee into the Northwoods of Winchester, where they owned a small bar. Rod and Donna arrived some years later to complete the family. After all were grown, she took on another round of child-rearing by raising her grandson, Benjamin.

In 1967, Lois started a business driving school bus for the Lakeland Unified School District. She continued to drive for that district and the North Lakeland School District as both a contractor and as an employee for 45 years until she retired at age 82. Some of the children Lois was driving to school and extracurricular events when she retired were the grandchildren of kids she drove when she first started her business. Her attention to safety and no-nonsense attitude impacted many lives.

Lois lost her husband in September 1985. On Nov. 14, 2019, she joined him, having suffered a slow decline since a 2017 stroke. She is survived by her sister, Judith Schroedl, and by her five children, nine grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

Upon her wishes, cremation took place and a Celebration of Life service will take place at a later date.

Online condolences may be shared at www.nimsgernfuneral.com. Nimsgern Funeral & Cremation Services is serving the family.