STERLING – Loretto Rita Waller Nagorka, 91, of Sterling, died Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013.

She was born Nov. 12, 1921, in Edgar County, the daughter of Margaret and Leonard Waller. She married Adam S. Nagorka on Feb. 2, 1946, in Paris, Ill. Adam preceded her in death in 2009. The sixth of seven children, Loretto remained on the family farm through her post-high school years while taking care of her ill mother. Upon her mother’s death, she moved to Chicago, where she worked for a number of companies, including Johnson & Johnson, Link Belt, Ford Motor Co., Union Carbide Co., and Englander Bed & Sofa. After a long and varied career, she and Adam retired in 1980 to Palm Harbor, Fla. They remained there until 1999, before finally relocating to their home in Sterling.

Loretto is survived by her daughter, Bernadette (Richard) Bird of Oregon.; son, Mark (Karen) Nagorka of Woodbury, Minn.; son-in-law, Dr. Michael (Sue) Gerberi of Sterling; brothers, Albert Waller of Newman and Harold (Dolores) Waller of Paris; grandchildren, Margaret (Geoff) Thomas, Danielle Gerberi, Michael Todd (Emily Young) Gerberi, Richard Bird, Bryan Nagorka, and Kathryn (Michael) Grimsby; and great-grandchildren, Maeve and Orion Thomas.