Vern Loren, the Forest Lake man who lived nearly 12 years with a transplanted heart, has died.Loren, 75, a lifelong resident of Forest Lake, died on Friday, Feb. 6, after suffering a heart attack or organ rejection, family members said this week.
Loren made news in the summer of 1992 when he was the recipient of a heart. He went on the donor list in early 1991 after continued bouts with congestive heart failure were diagnosed as cardiomyopathy.
For more than 10 months leading up to the transplant on Aug. 15, 1992, Loren was given an experimental liquid drug that was pumped to his heart by a portable pump that he was required to carry. He was the only patient in the state on the drug at the time.
ìThat is what has kept me alive,î Loren said in a 1992 interview. ìI am making good history with this drug.î
His heart problems were first detected in 1985 when he was hit by a stroke. It was a problem related to congestive heart failure and the difficult time his heart was having with the simple task of maintaining blood flow. He made a quick recovery from the stroke but realized his heart condition was becoming serious.
Loren lived for nearly 12 years with the transplanted heart. He was diagnosed with what doctors said was either lung cancer or pneumonia last summer and was placed under hospice care, said his niece Ginger Haddorff. After six months on hospice a medical redetermination was sought and it concluded Loren did not have lung cancer, the niece said.
His death last Friday came 43 years to the day that his father died, Haddorff said.
FL resident
Vernon Richard Loren was a native of Forest Lake born here Aug. 13, 1928, the son of Forest Lake natives. He graduated from Forest Lake High School in 1946 and earned a business degree from Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, in 1957.
He sandwiched his high school and college days around a 2‡-year stint in the Air Force during the Korean War period. He was stationed stateside during the war.
He was employed by the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District for 28 years and after retirement from the state job worked part-time on the grounds crew at Forest Hills Golf Club in Forest Lake.
After receiving his transplant in 1992, Loren was able to resume playing golf and enjoying walks, activities that he couldnít do as his heart grew weaker.
Throughout his life in Forest Lake he enjoyed high school, college and professional sports of all kinds.
A memorial service for Vern Loren is being planned for 4 p.m., Saturday, March 20 at Faith Lutheran Church in Forest Lake.
He is survived by one sister, Genevieve Hedman, Tacoma, WA; and nine nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents Richard and Gertrude (Anderson) Loren; one brother, Gordon Loren; and one sister, Lois Loren Froyen.
Memorials are preferred to Faith Lutheran Church, the Healtheast Hospice program, or Lifesource, an organ transplant organization in Minnesota.
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