Lorraine Curfman

Lorraine (LaRayne) Lucille Paulson was born on the Edmund’s Place farm near Hendrum, MN, on December 30, 1923, to Paul and Julia (Rude) Paulson. She was the third of nine children. Around 1940, the family moved to Uncle Julius Rude’s farm in the hollow north of Twin Valley. She told how the train that came by there had a conductor that would throw out candy and comic books for them every time it came by. They loved this place because wild animals would come by including deer, beavers, woodchucks and others. Around 1942, they moved to Fargo. She worked at Nick’s Café when this soldier came in for lunch for eight days straight. On the eighth day, Smitty asked her to go for a walk. They walked to the court house where he applied for a marriage license. LaRayne married Merle ‘Smitty’ Curfman the next day on July 1, 1943. He went to California on military business for a time and after that they lived in Fargo until Merle became a gravel truck driver. They lived in a trailer that they would move to several locations in North Dakota and Minnesota to be near the gravel truck base. Merle then became a worker at Branick’s Mfg, until his retirement. They became parents to four children, three girls and a boy. The family lived in Golden Ridge when an F5 tornado ripped through their neighborhood. The family was not injured but did lose all their possessions and home from the tornado. It made a great impact on her and she was very attentive to any storms for the rest of her life. She worked at Shotwell’s Greenhouse on Lower Terrace in the 1960’s. They lived in many places including Fargo, West Fargo, Wheatland, and Cavalier in North Dakota, Moorhead, Dilworth, and the Rude Farmstead north of Twin Valley in Minnesota, Aurora, Colorado, and Banning, California. She loved to travel and explore new places. LaRayne loved to laugh and tease. She had a beautiful smile that could light up a room. Among her favorite things to do was learning new ways to create. Sewing, crocheting, knitting, ceramics, decoupage, painting, were part of her pastimes. She enjoyed giving away her creations. You could find her doing Dell crossword puzzles almost every day. She loved to play Scrabble, Cribbage, Yahtzee and other games. One of her passions was to be ‘Grandma Rayne’ to the neighborhood children and the ones she babysat. She is preceded in death by husband, Merle Curfman; grandson, Nathaniel Hall; her father and mother, Paul & Julia Paulson; brothers, Vernon and Merlyn Paulson; and sister, Mildred Smith. Surviving family includes brothers, Bob (Leona) Paulson, Grafton, ND; Earle (Doris) Paulson, Pueblo, CO; Rudy (Nancy) Paulson, Beaverton, OR; Lester Paulson, WA; and sister, Patti Sall, Missoula, MT. Children include Linda (Bill) Biwer, Moorhead, MN; Nancy (Bill) Hall, Great Fall, MT; Sue Curfman, Fargo, ND; and Jef (Tammy) Curfman, Fargo, ND; grandchildren, Bill Biwer Jr., Moorhead, MN; Peggy Stevens, Grand Forks, ND; Chris Biwer, Fargo, ND; Bradley (Heather) Hall, Minot, ND; Kevin Hall, Ulm, MT; Andy (Kathy) Hall, Great Falls, MT; Julia Hall, Ulm, MT; and Joshua Curfman, Fargo, ND; great-grandchildren, Jessica Biwer, Kayla Biwer, Melissa Stevens, Ashley Stevens & Daniel Stevens, all of Grand Forks, ND; Noah & Seriani Hall, Minot, ND; Christopher Hall, Great Falls, MT; special ‘grandchildren’, Sean (Amy) Kelly, Erin (Dan) Friezen, Fargo, ND; Travis & Carrie, Steven & Jonathan Larson, Cole & Kyle Holoien, Andrew & Jeffery Dozhier and many more!