Kristen (Kris) Ann Lokemoen of Florissant, Mo. died Saturday May 26, 2018 at St. Sophia Health & Rehabilitation Center in Florissant.

A private burial with graveside services will be held at a later date in her hometown of Merrill, Wis. Kris was born October 26, 1945 in Merrill, Wis. to the late Theodore and Lucille (Fermanich) Lokemoen.

Kris graduated from Our Lady of the Holy Cross High School in Merrill in 1963 and later from U.W.Madison, Wis. in 1967 with degrees in Political Science and Journalism.

She moved to Hannibal, Mo. in 1976 and worked as a tour guide at the Mark Twain Cave and for KGRC radio before she became director of the Hannibal Visitors and Convention Bureau in 1982. She also served on the Hannibal City Council for 2 ½ years. In 1986, Kris joined the staff of the Missouri Division of Tourism in Jefferson City, Mo. where she served 13 years as Group Tour Manager for the state. She was honored in 1988 by the National Tour Association with the designation of Certified Tour Professional.

Kris loved to travel and her job allowed many opportunities for that. She was passionate about sharing her knowledge of Lewis and Clark and the Westward Expansion as she led many tourists westward. Kris was a voracious reader of all genres, consistently reading over 100 books a year. Equal to her love of reading were movies, playing Quiddler with her Missouri friends and supporting her beloved St. Louis Cardinals. Kris was an active member of the St. Louis Society for American Baseball Research for which she wrote and edited several chapters of books on Cardinals baseball history. Music was another passion in Kris’s life from the Beatles to the Ambassadors of Harmony, a barbershop chorus in St. Louis.

Kris is survived by her brother John and (Lue) Lokemoen of Jamestown, N.D. and sister Mary (Lokemoen)Haines of Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. She is further survived by her four nephews and two nieces, four great nephews and three great nieces, three great-great nephews and niece who affectionately knew her as Aunt Kiki and whose lives and adventures brought her great joy.

She was preceded in death by her parents and brother-in-law Philip Haines. The family would like to extend their sincere thanks to the staff at St. Sophia’s for their care of Kris. A special thank you to Kris’s close friends Loretta Donovan, Jeanette Schwyhart, Marjorie Beenders and Steve Kappler for the love and support they had shown her.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain