“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” Helen Keller

It was evident, even before her birth, that Lauren was not ordinary. Although her time with us was short, the impact she made in the lives of those around her was signifi cant. Lauren was vibrant, full of life with a

contagious smile, a fun personality and an unending kindness given freely to all within her reach. Life will not be the same without her. However, we are forever changed because she was a part of our lives and we will cherish our memories.

November 21, 1988 was the day Lauren was born to Marty and Joyce Lovse, the younger sister to 2 1/2 year old Emery. Marty and Joyce were overjoyed, as their family was now complete. Lauren’s arrival, six weeks early was actually a blessing as Joyce had been on bed rest for 3 months. Lauren arrived with a full head of thick, dark hair, beautiful blue eyes and a feisty spirit. Her nickname in the womb was “Baby Thumper.” It’s a good thing that Lauren was so adorable because her strong will and determination emerged at an early age and that was always a challenge. She climbed out of her crib with regularity. It didn’t come as a surprise that potty training was a challenge, so Joyce left the task to Marty. When Marty came home from work, he would take the newspaper and he and Lauren would head to the bathroom to “talk business.” Joyce and Marty knew they had achieved success when Lauren announced in a loud voice in the middle of K-Mart “I gotta talk business.”

Lauren’s sense of independence and determination showed again when Marty and Lauren drove to school to pick up Emery. Marty left Lauren buckled in the car while he ran in and told Emery to come out. Marty

returned to the parking lot to see three year old, Lauren proudly standing behind the steering wheel, grinning

from ear to ear, as the car rolled back across the parking lot towards other cars.

Lauren attended Vandenberg Creative Arts Academy through the 5th grade. While there she “starred” as a pig in the “Three Piggy

Opera.” She also declared to her art teacher that “Art is my life.” She tried dance classes for

awhile but that ended abruptly when she was presented with a bumble bee costume to

wear which she refused to even try on.

Lauren attended Excel Charter Academy from 6th - 8th grades where she

met one of her best friends Andrea Brydges. Art and acting was replaced with soccer and volleyball. By this time, Lauren had been working for the family business AngelCare Home Care for 3 years.

Lauren graduated from Grand Rapids Christian High School in 2006 not really sure what direction to take in life. She continued working at AngelCare and settled in at GRCC after a semester at Aquinas College. By the time Lauren turned 21, her will and determination had refocused. She enrolled at Davenport College and bought a house in Alger Heights. Lauren continued working at AngelCare and also took a position as a bridal consultant at Bridal Elegance. Everything seemed to be working for Lauren with her house, school, work, family and friends. Lauren’s zest for life was especially apparent at the Mall; she loved to shop. If you have stock in any of the Woodland Mall

women’s stores you should sell it now as their sales are likely to fall. Lauren loved animals and treasured her cat Minky, her dog Gizmo and her roommate’s dog Mikey. Nothing was more fun for Lauren than spending time with her friends, perhaps watching a Law & Order TV marathon. Above all, Lauren was a loyal friend.

Lauren was also a great prankster. Her day wasn’t complete if she didn’t get someone to fall for a story she made up or jump out and scare the daylights out of them. Her friends teased her unmercifully for her tone-deaf attempts at singing but that didn’t slow her down one bit.

On January 29 Lauren called Marty and Joyce to say she had a high tempature. By the next morning she was having trouble breathing and was spitting up blood. Within an hour of arriving at Metro Health hospital Lauren was placed on a vent to support her breathing. Lauren had contracted Neisseria Meningitidis bacteria resulting in a severe case of pneumonia. After 2 weeks of set backs and blood clots, she was making a recovery; sitting up in bed, putting on make up and even showing her sense of humor.

Suddenly, on Feburary 13, at 7:20pm she took a turn for the worse and was transferred to Spectrum

Butterworth Hospital on Feb. 14.. At Spectrum she was heavily sedated and hooked up to

an ECMO machine which oxygenated her blood, as her lungs were no longer able

to do. In addition to remaining on a vent, she was also hooked up to a dialysis

machine to maintain her fl uid level and several IVs and antibiotics.

We told her story on Care Pages, LovedOnesforLauren, and eventually reached 803 individual viewers, including TV star Emily Deschanel and

Visit LifeStoryNet.com to connect with your friends and family, share stories, and sign the guestbook. Life Story Funeral Homes® are the exclusive providers of the Life Story Experience™.

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Visit LifeStoryNet.com to connect with your friends and family, share stories, and sign the guestbook. Life Story Funeral Homesare the exclusive providers of the Life Story Experience

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people in several countries that were Lauren’s “prayer warriors.” We fi rmly believe that all of the prayers kept Lauren with us as her ARDS and pseudomonas remained unchanged. Many care pages friends responded to our call for help, providing contacts in the medical fi eld that could consult and try to help heal her condition. On March 5th we posted on care pages asking the “prayer warriors” to change the focus of their prayers to “the best outcome for Lauren.” At 5am on March 6th the hospital called to say that

Lauren’s blood pressure was dropping and we should come to the hospital. At 9 am Lauren Katherine Lovse passed with Marty, Joyce and Emery at her side.

Lauren Katherine Lovse, age 23, passed away on March 6, 2012 after having spent the last 5 weeks in ICU fi ghting a sudden and severe respiratory infection. She is lovingly remembered by her parents, Marty and Joyce Lovse; brother,

Emery Lovse; Uncles, Brian Lovse and Bill (Judy) Lovse; Aunts, Nancy (Ed) Cherney and Mary Anderson; many cousins; her closest friends, Andrea, Kate, Ashlynn, Brittany, Irma, Mitchell, Matt, Tyler, Justin and Jenna, her co-workers at AngelCare Home Care, fellow students at Davenport University and the many people she touched. Lauren will be remembered for her contagious smile and unending kindness. A special thank you to the ICU Medical Staff at Metro Health and Spectrum Health Hospitals that gave Lauren such loving care. The family will receive visitors on Friday from 1-4 and 6-9 PM in the Elm Room of the Prince Conference Center at Calvin

College, 1800 E. Beltline SE. A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 10:30 AM on Saturday March 10, 2012 at Unity Church, 1711 Walker Ave NW. In lieu of fl owers to honor Lauren, please consider a donation to Spectrum Health Foundation or Metro Health Foundation. Please visit www.lifestorynet.com to read Lauren’s lifestory, archive a memory, photo, or sign the guestbook online.