Clarene "Terri" Irene Lundgren

Obituary - Clarene (Terri) Lundgren

Long-time resident of Sacramento but with family roots in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Clarene “Terri” Lundgen passed away peacefully in her sleep at Kaiser Morse Hospital on October 29, 2022 after suffering a major stroke.  She was surrounded by the love and visits of her family and friends prior to her passing.

She is preceded in death by her parents Irene and Clarence Lundgren.  Terri’s first name “Clarene” is a combination of her parent’s first names, but she was known and loved by friends and family as Terri.

Terri was the first-born of three siblings: Terri, Gary, and Duane (otherwise known as Paul). She is survived by Gary Lundgren, Mike and Mary Lundgren, Pat and Kristen Lundgren and their families; Duane “Paul” and Deb Lundgren, Denise (Lundgren) and Steve Froehlich, Dale Lundgren and his family, and Dustin and Katie Lundgren and their family.

When first moving to California, Terri worked as an Administrative Assistant at Gallo Winery after moving from the Saint Paul, Minnesota East Side. Terri then graduated from Sacramento State University, where she earned her teaching degree in art.

Terri worked for over three decades at C.K. McClatchy High School in Sacramento as an art teacher. Teaching was her passion, and she went above and beyond teaching curricular standards. For example, she arranged students' displays of art shows in the community and volunteered her students’ work for school activities such as making signs for dances or events. She requested library materials from the librarian that would help to support her students’ work. She developed progressive curricula for McClatchy students, and was active in professional committees at her school. Her students would come back to visit her even after they had graduated, and would recognize her when she was out and about. She gave the gift of artistic expression and voice to her students. She loved her students and they loved her.

Terri was the type of person who couldn’t go to the grocery store without learning everyone’s name at the checkout. She was genuinely interested in everyone she met. She was renowned for her great sense of humor, her colorful scarves, her beautiful smile, her wonderful artwork, her ability to wear silly hats, and by her great abundant love of family and friends.

Terri loved the beautiful and was drawn to it. Not only was she drawn to the beautiful, she created it.  She lived by the principles of abundance and gratitude.

Terri loved music, and was always making custom music mixes that she would give away to family and friends. She amassed a formidable collection of CDs. She would attend live concerts, and would love to go to dances. Her tastes were eclectic- funk, mellow jazz, pop, rock, country, classical,indie/acoustic and others.

Terri loved to support her brothers. She was their mentor, friend, therapist, advisor, and confidante.  She was especially supportive to her brothers during some hard emotional times, and she would call frequently to check in.

Terri had a wonderful sense of humor–especially with her brothers, family, and friends.  She had a delightful laugh–life was always fun with Terri. For example, she would use the sprinkler system to keep the cats away from her yard; she would turn it on and watch those darn cats run. In one instance, she egged us on when we visited her and we did a Chinese fire drill in the middle of the road. She was unafraid to “walk like an Egyptian” or do the macarena. On one trip we brought a little “Hillary” doll that was photographed like “Where’s Waldo” at all of our destinations. She was fun.

Terri took delight in the experiences and achievements of others.  She took pride when her brother Gary (a U.S Army Vietnam vet who became a tax expert) would help a friend who was in trouble with the IRS to reduce his debt to pennies on the dollar.  She took pride in Gary’s ability to artistically create woodcrafts in his shop, and in his ability to fix things.  She also took pride in her brother Paul’s many awards and championships earned during his career in public transit.  She even rode along in a Metro Transit Bus Roadeo with Paul and was duly impressed. She supported his voice-over talent, his acting ability, and his talent as a ballroom dancer/dance instructor. She would watch his videos and even attended a dance or two when he performed. Her support extended to all who knew and loved her - including her best friend Greg, her neighbors, her friends, her partners, her students, and her teaching colleagues.

Some of her favorite things included art (OBVIOUSLY) and art fairs, music and concerts,  theatre, chocolate (especially dark chocolate although any would do), travel, going to a Jammin’ Jo’s dance, seeing her friends, going to parties, talking on the phone, going for walks, composing photos, beautiful women (of whom she had a number of in her life), the fragrance of the jasmine on her patio, her refrigerator door that was chock- full of photos of her family and friends, The Week (a weekly news publication), Rachel Maddow and MSNBC, and talking to young children.

Terri leaves an amazing legacy.

Everyone loved Terri. And she loved them.

“Great love lives on.” - Anonymous

A pre-service memorial gathering to honor and celebrate Terri’s life shall take place on Saturday, December 3, 2022 at the Fulton El Camino Building in the Richard T. Conzelmann Community Center/Howe Park, 2201 Cottage Way, Sacramento, CA 95825 at 2:00 P.M. A memorial service shall follow at 2:30 P.M., with fellowship time after the service.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a financial gift/memorial donation to the Terri Lundgren Memorial Fund for the Arts at CK McClatchy High School:

Checks:

CKM VAPA Boosters -Visual Arts

3066 Freeport Blvd

Sacramento, CA 95818

Attn: Mollie Morrison, VAPA Coordinator

or by using the following link:

VAPA Boosters- Visual Arts

https://www.paypal.com/cgi- bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick& hosted_button_id= 5NTLG9BF96W88&source=ur