Lorraine had been with us since the early days of Cameron Balloons, and was an exceptional seamstress. She joined us in May of 1985, before we moved into our current building. Many of our customers and dealers have had the pleasure of meeting and working with Lorraine. She was quite a character and was known for her love of Corvettes — particularly racing them. There was nothing she couldn’t figure out how to sew, from a difficult repair, to the most complex special shape, and she reveled in the thrill of the most challenging projects.
Lorraine had been hinting about retirement for some time, so we knew we could not keep her forever, but none of us expected her departure from Cameron Balloons to be so sudden. She came to work on Tuesday morning as normal, but within half an hour she was pale and not feeling well. We managed to convince her to let us take her to the Emergency Room at the U of M. After numerous tests and scans, she was diagnosed with an aortic dissection (a tearing of the aorta). Lorraine underwent a very lengthy and difficult surgery that lasted most of the day. Unfortunately the damage to her aorta proved to be too extensive and severe for the surgery to work, and she passed away about 11pm that night.
It is never easy to pass along news of a death, and it is particularly hard when that person has been part of your ‘family’ for 23 years. I had the pleasure of working with Lorraine for 15 of those years, and the time has gone by too quickly.
All of us here at the factory ask that you keep Lorraine and her family in your thoughts and prayers, and help us celebrate her life and her 23 years of contributions and dedication to the ‘Cameron family’.
Andy Baird