Author and historian Lois Glewwe passed away on February 16, 2023 at the age of 73. She graduated from South St. Paul High School, the University of Minnesota and received her master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Her post graduate work was spent in New Delhi, India, and she was a department head at the Philadelphia Museum of Art for several years. Returning to Minnesota in 1985, Lois was the Centennial Coordinator for the 100th anniversary of the City of South St. Paul in 1987. She went on to serve as an executive director or communications head for several Twin Cities nonprofits and churches until taking early retirement in 2014 to focus on her history research and writing. She is the author of seven published histories including the 1987 History of South St. Paul, the 1989 History of West St. Paul and the 1990 History of Inver Grove Heights. She authored additional regional histories and in 2015, wrote South St. Paul: A Brief History, published by Arcadia Publishing in South Carolina. A popular presenter and lecturer, Lois traveled the country doing history research with a focus on the first white women in Minnesota and their relationships with Dakota women from 1834 through the 1880s. Her blog, Dakota Soul Sisters, shares the story of over twenty such women.
An avid animal lover, Lois supported Howling for Wolves and rescued dozens of cats in need, finding homes for all of them.
Preceded in death by her parents, Reuben and Ethel Hymers Glewwe, she is survived by dozens of nieces and nephews, including great-nieces and nephews and great-great nieces and nephews, as well as many cousins and friends all over the country.
Lois’s Blog will be maintained by Lois’s nephew, Kelton Glewwe