Lori Diane Houle Banks' Obituary
Gainesville FL resident Lori Diane Houle Banks was one of the first women firefighters in the Air Force. She beat lung cancer and loved her family and animals, especially Jack Russell terriers.
“They’re tenacious little dogs,” said her sister, Jodi Houle of Ft. Lauderdale, “just like Lori.”
She was, her family agreed, both tough and compassionate.
Five days after a six-hour open heart surgery, Ms. Banks, 58, died unexpectedly Saturday, Aug. 25, 2018, while she was still in the Intensive Care Unit at the Malcolm Randall Veterans Administration Hospital in Gainesville.
More than her accomplishments were the relationships she maintained with her six children. They were the center of her life and she was the glue that kept them a family.
Get-togethers were often raucous fun affairs with lots of laughter and Lori was always at the center.
Outside of her family, she was proud of her home, the first one she ever owned, which she bought a year and a half ago with the help of the VA. She even enjoyed the yard work that comes with owning your own home, and loved watching her flowers bloom and the wildlife that surrounded the yard she created.
Her other interests were wide and varied. She loved her dogs, Sophie and Scarlett, and had recently taken up bird watching. She loved to watch the mated mourning doves that would visit her in the mornings and evenings. She was also a voracious reader and seemed to know a little about everything. She always had some sort of craft project in the works and loved needlepoint and cross-stitch.
Lori was born on April 6, 1960 in Miami Beach and grew up in South Florida. Her parents were the late Roland and Rebecca Houle. Lori lived many years in Trenton before moving to Gainesville in 1997.
Ryan Cecile of Richmond, CA, and Lori’s eldest son, said what was most special to him was her beating cancer allowed his mother time to get to know her grandson Ben, 6. During Lori’s several trips to California, she and Ben became great pals. During the original diagnosis, doctors predicted she had two years to live. But Lori was tough and beat the cancer.
Daughter Valerie Gunnels of Gainesville wrote on Facebook, “Our family is hurting and our hearts are broken but we will honor my mommy by living our best lives and living life with compassion for other people just like she did.”
Lori is survived by her six children, Valerie Gunnels and Jayme Cecile, both of Gainesville, Courtney (Efrain) Acevedo of Orlando, Ryan (Sarah) Cecile of Richmond, CA, Kevin (Angela) Cecile, of Orlando and Austin Gulledge of Newberry; two sisters, Tobi (Billy) Williamson, of Brooker and Jodi Houle of Fort Lauderdale and three grandchildren, Jade Cecile of Valrico, Benjamin Cecile of Richmond, CA, and Alyssa Budd of Orlando.
A memorial service will be Saturday, Sept. 1, 2018, at 11 a.m. in the Chapel of the Williams-Thomas Funeral Home Downtown, 404 N. Main St., Gainesville.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Lori’s name to the K9s For Warriors, 114 Camp K9 Road, Ponte Vedra, Florida 32081.
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