Audrey Lanosga died October 11, 2025, at her home in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She was 93.
She was born Audrey Jean Moehsmer in St. Louis on December 20, 1931, one of seven children of Frank J. and Teresa T. (Minor) Moehsmer. She graduated from Cleveland High School in the Dutchtown area of St. Louis in 1949 and worked for a time as a secretary at Grove Lab in the city. In 1950, she met a young serviceman, Randolph (Randy) Lanosga, while volunteering at a USO dance in St. Louis. As he told the story, he had run out of money after a night of drinking and went to the event to get a free meal. Audrey asked him to dance. After a brief courtship, she followed him to his posting at Kirkland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and they were married at the base chapel there on December 29, 1951.
Audrey and Randy crisscrossed the country and the world in the Air Force, ultimately settling in Colorado Springs in 1963, where they raised their six children.
She had many interests and activities during her life. In her younger years, she was a local league champion bowler. Later, when the kids were all grown, she participated for a number of years in the Sweet Adelines singing organization, traveling around the country for performances. She was also a movie buff who loved watching classic and modern films alike.
As a young woman, she spent some time going door-to-door selling World Book Encyclopedia sets, a fitting job given her lifelong love of books and learning about everything, especially religion, spirituality and the brain. A well-worn set of the encyclopedias remained in her living room upon her death. She was an avid user of the public library and had books in every room of the house – often with her signature hand-written notes tucked inside. One of them read: “Books: indispensable to my happiness!” In another she wrote: “I choose to handle all my experiences w/love & w/joy and w/ease.”
She and Randy were married 56 years until his death in 2008. She was also preceded in death by her parents; her eldest son, Randy Lanosga, Jr. (Bennie); her siblings: Dorothy Schmidt, Charlotte Henderson, Frank “Bud” Lanosga Jr., Virgil Lanosga, and Lawrence Lanosga, as well as a sister who died shortly after birth; and two grandsons, Nicholas Cee and Ryan Lanosga.
She is survived by her remaining children: Cathie Cee (Rick), James Lanosga, Frank Lanosga (Lisa), John Lanosga, and Gerard Lanosga (Michelle); a daughter-in-law, Bennie; 15 grandchildren: Vincent Cee (Christa), Victor Cee (Holly), Jera White (Nathaniel), Randy Lanosga III (Ben), David Lanosga (Margaret), Jeremy Lanosga, Christopher Lanosga, Jamie Lanosga, Erin Lanosga, Thomas Lanosga (Kim), Steven Lanosga (Sarah), Brittney Lanosga, Max Lanosga, Cole Lanosga, and Miles Lanosga; and 15 great-grandchildren. Others close to the family who meant a great deal to Audrey include Melodie Lanosga, Todd Swaine, Julia Sandler, and niece Michelle Lukoski.
She was dearly loved and will be missed by all. Her life will be celebrated in a private family gathering and she will be interred with her husband, Randy, in a military honors ceremony at the Pikes Peak National Cemetery in El Paso County, Colorado.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Audrey’s memory to Temple Shalom in Colorado Springs, which she attended in her later years.