Lois VanHorn

Lois VanHorn - September 4, 1926 - November 22, 2025.

Lois Nell Cogdill Van Horn’s passion to explore this “big, wide, wonderful world” took her from a small farm south of Menlo, Kansas, to all 48 contiguous states and more than ten countries. Born to Artie and Lillian (Schropp) Cogdill, Lois was the middle child of five. She, her three sisters, and her younger brother attended the local county school, where Lois grew up with the steady rhythms of farm life and the dependable bonds of a close-knit rural community. Both sides of her family had deep pioneering roots in Thomas County, and her earliest years were shaped by the land, its traditions, and the people who worked it.

Artie espoused a resolute belief that women should have a sound foundation in business. Determined to give his daughter every opportunity—albeit, Lois dreamed only of taking over the farm herself—he encouraged her to pursue business training. With her family’s fervent support, Lois enrolled in the Colorado School of Business and, along with her close friend Dorothy Duffy Wolf, left Menlo for Colorado Springs. For two farm girls stepping into the city for the first time, it was an adventure—one they embraced with enthusiasm and wonderment. While in Colorado Springs, Lois also worked in the home of future Colorado governor, John Love, gaining early experience that broadened her world. Upon graduation, Lois was recruited by Colby attorney Gerald Stover and later by Edward Thiel. It was during this time that she met the man who would become her lifelong partner—Thurston “Van” Van Horn. They married, marking the beginning of a shared saga that unfolded over decades at the white stucco house affectionately named “Poverty Corner”. Her new life with Van brought her into the world of small business, where she became a bookkeeper and partner in what grew into a fifty-year enterprise: Van’s Body & Frame.

However, motherhood became her most rewarding and challenging undertaking. She and Van raised three children: Rex (1950), Lamoreaux (1952), and Thurston II (1957). The love and commitment she poured into them eventually grew into five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, gifts she cherished and considered her life’s greatest reward. She was an avid letter writer and, even in spite of her failing eyesight, wrote letters as though it was her greatest duty to her friends, grandchildren, and young penpals.

One of Lois’s most defining personal qualities was her energetic, cheerful disposition. She possessed a deep curiosity—an eagerness to learn, to study new things, to meet new people. She believed in living life fully and squeezing as much joy as possible from each day. Lois nourished her own spirit with adventure and personal enrichment. She tried new things without fear of failure or embarrassment and carried a quiet but determined competitive streak throughout her life. That drive found expression in everything from tap dancing—an art she took up later in life and performed at annual recitals with friends Margaret Chick and Dorothy Metzler—to her love of athletics, especially KU basketball and Denver Broncos football. Even rollerblading and climbing treehouses with Curtis, her youngest grandson, Lois was always looking for the next exciting endeavor. Later in life, Lois discovered an interest in Mettlach Steins, which led her and Van, often accompanied by their granddaughter Andrea, on repeated summer trips to Germany that fed her curiosity and need for adventure.

Hunting and fishing were lifelong passions, beginning in the pastures of her childhood farm and stretching into the valleys of Wyoming. Lois reveled in the outdoors and the camaraderie that came inextricably with both hobbies. She was a generous hostess to friends and strangers alike, and for thirty-three years, Lois and Van attended the Las Vegas Gun Show. Their interest in collecting antique firearms and glassware gave Van and his friend Jim Kriss the idea to start the Colby Gun Show, an annual event that continues to this day. Seeing a fundraising opportunity, Lois organized the ladies of the Episcopal church to serve meals and desserts. The ladies were famous for their sloppy joes and homemade pecan pies. Above all other pursuits, however, Lois was devoted to the Ascension on the Prairie Episcopal Church and the cultivation of her faith. For 75 years, Lois has been an unwavering presence at the church. Her passing will be deeply felt in the congregation, as she was the deepest root connecting the church through the ebb and flow of generations.

Through every chapter of her life, Lois lived with the unending energy and warmth of the afternoon sun, which often enveloped her as she plucked dandelions from any plot of land to which she was allowed access. And she channeled that energy and warmth into a deep love for her family and community. She embodied resilience, wonderment, and a lifelong drive to seize every moment of her life—qualities that endeared her to anyone who knew her and that continue to echo through the generations that follow her.

A funeral service will take place at 2:00 p.m. Thursday, December 4, 2025, at the Ascension on the Prairie Episcopal Church, Colby, with burial in Beulah Cemetery, Colby. Memorials may be made to the church or Prairie Museum of Art and History and sent in care of Baalmann Mortuary, PO Box 391, Colby, KS 67701. For information or condolences visit baalmannmortuary.com.