Lois Coffin Ensberg
To know her was to love her.
Lois was born and raised as Lois Marion Coffin in Bangor, Maine where she had a wonderful childhood as the youngest of 5 – 3 sisters and an oldest brother. She was a Mainer through and through. She attended the University of Maine. Her mother Grace was a teacher and the first woman valedictorian from the University of Maine. Her Father Harold was a decorated Colonel in the Army and an Electrical Engineer.
Lois was married twice – to military pilots. Her first husband was lost in Korea after less than a year of marriage. She met, fell in love with, and married Stanford Ensberg in Springfield Massachusetts – he was stationed at Westover AFB. They moved to Vacaville California with their daughter Cassandra (Cassie) where Stan was stationed at Travis AFB as a pilot for the Berlin Airlift. When pregnant with Amanda and Stan was away on a mission, she suffered a severe brain hemorrhage and given little hope for recovery. She beat the odds, Amanda was born, adorable and healthy, and pictures a year later show a vibrant mother with her 2 little girls.
The family went from California to Montgomery, Alabama, to Great Falls, Montana where Bruce, child #3, was born healthy and happy. The family of 5 plus a dog and a parakeet then moved to Saint Albert, north of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, then to Pease AFB, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, then to Fargo North Dakota where Lois completed her degree from NDSU. Next to Okinawa during the Vietnam War, followed by Fayetteville, North Carolina, and finally retiring to Toronto, South Dakota, where Stan was born and raised, to be farmers with angus cattle and fields of crops. They lived in the ancestral home (built by the great grandfather who had immigrated from Norway in the 1800’s). It was there that Lois rode her 3 wheeled bike all over town with a basket for her little poodle Rocky and she mowed the big lawn every week.
Stan and Lois had many friends wherever they went and enjoyed life to the fullest with many trips to Maine for family vacations with Lois’s side of the family.
Stan passed at 68 years old when out tending the fields he loved. Lois eventually made the move to Minneapolis to be near her daughter Amanda and family and relatives in the area. In 2014, job changes opened the opportunity for Amanda, her husband, and Lois to move to California to be near their daughter in LA and Amanda’s sister and family in Santa Barbara. Lois loved living at the Villa Santa Barbara and was delighted with all the events especially Fiesta and Solstice Parades, Kids Draw Architecture, Architectural Foundation shows and lectures, Santa Barbara Beautiful holiday party, and coming to city council with Cass to help advocate for an accessible kneeling bus on State Street.
Up until 2023, Lois continued annual trips to Maine to visit her sister, family, and friends with help from her “entourage”.
She had a zest for life, greeting everyone with a smile and a big “hello!”, and never turned down a cup of coffee or sitting in the sun and bird watching. She “flew off” peacefully with her faughter and son in law at her side.
She is survived by her sister Olive Hart, her children and their spouses Cassandra Ensberg (Tom Jacobs), Amanda (Gordon) Engstrom, and Bruce (Patty) Ensberg, 4 accomplished grandchildren Jasper Jacobs & Aubrey Swetek, Linnea Engstrom, Whitney Engstrom (Dan Huebbe), and Danielle Ensberg, 7 great grandchildren Nash, Rye, and Flint Terrell, Wren & Tate Jacobs, Thea & Hilde Huebbe and nieces and nephews from both sides of the families.
Any donations in remembrance of Lois are encouraged to be sent to local Food Banks, the Ojai Raptor Center, or the Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara Kids Draw Architecture Program.
With gratitude and love to all
The Lois Stanford Ensberg Family
