Lois grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan. After graduating from Ann Arbor Pioneer High School, she attended Eastern Michigan University (EMU) and the University of Washington. While attending the University of Washington, she participated in a local church’s World Deputation Program which sent her to Mendenhall, Mississippi to lead a summer-long vacation Bible school for children living in an area called “the quarters”. At the end of the summer it was clear to her that whatever work she decided to do, she wanted it to be focused on helping people.
After graduating from EMU, and a brief time working at a hospice in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Lois was a missionary with Wycliffe Bible Translators in Germany and Kazakhstan. Then she served with Christian Reformed World Missions in Hungary for fourteen years as a biology, geography, and math teacher. She returned to the US in 2006 and almost immediately became a Rotarian, finding kindred spirits that embraced her ideals embodied in the four-way test and service above self moto.
Since 2006, she held a number of roles with World Mission/Resonate Global Mission: director of donor relations, director of advancement operations, and the co-director of advancements and mission support. In 2019, she completed her Masters in Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership. Recently Resonate did some restructuring and her position was eliminated. Although COVID-19 put much hiring on hold, Lois feels called to something that fights systemic injustice and poverty, and supports gender diversity, inclusion, housing for all, and fairness for immigrants.
Lois serves, or has served, as president on numerous boards; Rotary Club of Kentwood, Pannonia Christian Educational Exchange, and Nonprofit Professional Graduate Student Organization; she speaks Hungarian, German, and French; and in her spare time she likes to cook for and host guests, play volleyball, ride her bicycle, or paint pictures.