What's in a name? The 'Lorraine' behind Lake Lorraine

How did Lake Lorraine get its name? And what does that have to do with Mother’s Day? To answer that, you need to go back to how Lake Lorraine became a lake.

In 1975, Warren Friessen purchased the first of five parcels that today make up the Lake Lorraine development. The dredging of the lake produced almost 1 million tons of sand. The sand was hauled out and used as part of a decade’s worth of westside road projects for Friessen Construction, Warren’s company. Warren purchased the land to use for road projects but developed the area with a lake in mind.

For years the Friessen family debated what to call the lake project. Friessen Construction employees called it the Terry Pit (Terry Avenue is the street on the south end of the land). Lake Friessen (pronounced “freezin’”) didn’t sound very warm or inviting. Lake Warren seemed logical because acquiring all 130 acres from I-29 to Marion Road was Warren’s vision.

And then the name “Lorraine” came up as an option during a family meeting. Warren’s wife was Hilda Lorraine. He also has a granddaughter named Angela Lorraine. The alliteration sounded appealing and rolled off the tongue nicely. And, because it had a special meaning to the Friessen family, everyone (Warren, Hilda and their children, Cindy and Patty) finally agreed! In 2017 a great-granddaughter, Cora Lorraine, was born making three generations of “Lorraine” women in the Friessen family.

In 2013 the Friessen family partnered with Van Buskirk Companies to develop the area as a lifestyle center — creating a space that would bring shopping, dining, services, business offices and living spaces together around the lake. Hilda Lorraine Friessen passed away in May 2017, but lived to see the start of the lifestyle center, including the big retail stores like Hobby Lobby, as well as Grand Living at Lake Lorraine, CarsForSale.com and The SandBar and Grill. The development has grown into a legacy that will live beyond Warren and Hilda and a gift to the entire community as it is developed and more opportunities to enjoy the green space are created.

Who was Hilda Lorraine? She and her three sisters grew up on a farm just west of Sioux Falls with their parents, William and Margaret (Schmidt) Hooshagen. She attended country school and graduated from Washington High School in 1948.In 1955 she married Warren and the west side of Sioux Falls became their home. She raised their two daughters, Cynthia and Patricia, while she did book work for Friessen Construction out of their home on Marion Road. Warren and Hilda were proud to be charter members of St. Michael Parish.

Hilda enjoyed flower gardening, shopping, breakfasts out with family after Sunday Mass, and traveling and motorhome trips with family and friends. But her top priority was always family. Her four grandchildren were her greatest joy, caring for them as infants and small children and then attending their sporting and music activities — rarely missing an event!

Her daughters have said Hilda was the matriarch of the family, as she put everyone’s needs before her own. It is only fitting the family’s Lake Lorraine development in western Sioux Falls be named after her middle name — a wonderful way to honor her on Mother’s Day and every day.