"The main theme of my
life," says Lorraine, "is this: God’s guiding hand
was always there, directing and protecting me. I never planned my
life, but all through it, when I asked what to do, God led."
Lorraine was born on Chicago’s South side to Emma and Lee
Earl Gribbens. Her mother died of cancer when Lorraine was only
eight years old, and her father of heart problems nine months
later. The uncle who was to adopt her died six months later
before he could do so. Cared for by various relatives, she moved
from place to place. She attended five grammar schools, including
one in California, from which she graduated, and Lake View High
School in Chicago.In 1938, with only $1.00 in her pocket, Lorraine got a job as a proof- reader for $8.00 a week, a job she had for five years. Lorraine then found another job in a war manufacturing plant. By working nights and going back to high school during the day – an "older woman" among teenagers! -- she picked up some science and math courses she had missed. When the war ended, the plant closed. An acquaintance, whom she has not seen since that time, mentioned that the University of Illinois at Chicago needed laboratory workers – and the direction of her life was altered forever. She served as a lab assistant in the blood bank. As an employee, she was allowed to take an under-graduate course as part of her "fringe" benefits. Through two doctors in the University manufacturing Pharmacy department, she discovered the essential role of the pharmacy to those needing medical care. Eventually, she was able to enroll full-time in the College of Pharmacy, while still working part-time in the manufacturing department. In 1953 she received a B.S. in Pharmacy.
The Dean of the College hired her as a Research Associate preparing allergenic extracts for skin testing in the Pharmacy Department at the University. Lorraine loved her work, but felt God was pushing her to do something else with her profession. As she says, "From the day I prayed, ‘God, tell me what I should do with my life,’ He definitely has been telling me. Let this be a warning to anyone asking God that. Be sure you mean it!" During a young adult meeting at church, a film was shown of a missionary doing construction work, and she wondered whether there might be a need for a pharmacist in the mission field. From then on there was no turning back. She applied to the Woman’s Division of the Mission Board of the Methodist Church, and in 1958 was on her way to Sarawak, Borneo, as pharmacist at Christ Hospital, working primarily with people of the Iban tribe. For several months she studied the Iban and Mandarin languages.
The plan was for Lorraine to work in Sarawak for three years, but, she says, "Something
must have happened,
since I finished my term in Sarawak 18 years later! But how could
anyone leave with so much to do, and so much need?" While on
her first leave in 1964, Lorraine was commissioned as a
missionary, and also began work toward a Master’s degree in
Christian Education at Scarritt College in Nashville. During her
years in Sarawak, the Methodist Church built a modern hospital,
and developed a Community Health and Motivation Program
(CHEMPRO), a key factor in giving immunizations, doing public
health teaching and helping prevent communicable diseases. The
hospital is now operated by the Malaysian government; CHEMPRO
continues under the church.God continued to "tell" her what to do, and the next stop was Fiji – not the tourist Fiji, but areas where there was a great deal of suffering and need. When she left Fiji in 1978, she did not return because there was no money to keep the hospital open – though the Matron of the hospital was able by her dedication and prayers to keep it going for a few more years in spite of dire financial need.
In 1979 Lorraine went to Harlan, Kentucky as a staff pharmacist at the Harlan Appalachian Regional Hospital. Her intended "short time" in Harlan turned into six years. While there, she met Dr. Dudley Nelson, a missionary doctor who had worked in Haiti for more than 20 years. So, after retiring in 1985, Lorraine again heard God’s call, and, with some reluctance at first, was on her way to start out once more in another country to learn another language. She went to serve as a volunteer in Hospital Lumiere in Haiti, at the very time the chief pharmacist developed cancer and had to return permanently to the United States. His successor soon left for the U.S. on leave. Lorraine took over from her, but when she was ready to leave Haiti, the man who was to replace her was killed in an automobile accident. Once again, her 2-year term became a 3 1/4 year term, but, as she says, "God knew when help would be needed, so there I was." The two pharmacies included one in the hospital and one in a clinic 25 miles away. Five different governments were in power during her service there.
Articles about and by Lorraine have been published in the Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association, the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, and in Christianity and Pharmacy. She is one of 13 pharmacists, and the only woman, whose autobiography appears in the book Remarkable Pharmacists, published in 1973. It was interesting to note that one of the other pharmacists was Hubert H. Humphrey, obviously better known for some of his later pursuits!
After retiring (again!), Lorraine moved to Asheville, living first at Givens Estate, and now at Brooks-Howell. She has been very active in Biltmore United Methodist Church, as well as in the local and district United Methodist Women. As part of the Blue Ridge Braillers, she has also helped school children in North Carolina by transcribing Braille -- lessons, books and tests -- a skill she learned prior to going to Borneo in 1958. As amazing as her life story, is the large circle of friendships she continues to maintain from every period of her life.