Date of Birth: June 19th 1946
Date of Death: April 16th 2023
Date of Burial: October 22nd, 2023
Site Code: L9-B3-G5A
Memorial: Regina Labanauskas (Rauckinas) of Twisp, passed away April 16, 2023, surrounded by her loving family.
Regina was born on June 19, 1946, in Schwandorf, Germany, in a displaced persons camp hospital after her parents Stasys and Natalija Rauckinas, and brother Alfonsas, fled Lithuania during World War II. The family immigrated to America in 1949 and settled in Chicago, Illinois. While growing up, she was very active in the Lithuanian-American community in Chicago. This included Lithuanian Saturday school, summer camp, and as a teen, folk dancing in Lithuanian national costume. She forged lifelong friendships with six other girls during this time and they called themselves the “Lugan Chicks.”
In 1966, she married Min Labanauskas and shortly after they welcomed their first two sons, Saulius and Kris. The family then loaded up their green VW van and headed out West. While traveling, they happened upon the Methow Valley and were immediately taken with the landscape and the loving community on the Second-Mile Ranch in Twisp. They settled on the Second-Mile Ranch in 1972 and built a beautiful, stone homestead with Lithuanian motifs. Once established, they completed the family with their two youngest boys, Vitas and Stasys, and they built a larger, log home on the property, which the Labanauskas family still occupies.
Min and Regina operated several businesses in the Valley with their great friends, Tucker and Melody Barksdale: The Work Force Reforestation in 1977 and Methow Valley Lumber in 1978, as well as others. Regina did the bookkeeping for all of their business ventures while raising the four boys. The well-known catchphrase with her close friends was “Regina will do it” — because she could do it all, with such grace! Whether raising children or helping friends, Regina was always busy. When the boys were grown, she spent nearly 20 years working at the Winthrop KOA until retiring in 2019.
She was active in the community and rarely missed a sporting event that her kids and grandkids were participating in. She enjoyed reading and was an original member of Bill Hottell’s winter history class. She looked forward to attending each year. She loved sewing, and many of her beautiful quilts can be seen in loved ones’ homes. In earlier years, Regina was afraid of flying, but with her usual intrepidness, she overcame that fear and enjoyed traveling to Spain, Germany, Italy, Scotland, Mexico, and in 2017, she traveled back to Lithuania. She loved to make memories traveling with those she loved. Most of her days in recent years were spent tending to her magnificent gardens. Her home was surrounded by beautiful flowers and bountiful rows of vegetables which she enjoyed taking care of with her family. Her great-granddaughters, Hattie and Poppie, were lucky enough to spend endless hours reading, canning vegetables, crafting, and gardening with “Nana” the last six years of her life.
She was an exceptional daughter, sister, mother, grandmother and friend. She will be missed every day, in every way. Her children were her greatest accomplishment and proudest achievement. They include four sons: Saul (Traci) Labanauskas, Kris (Tricia) Labanauskas, Vitas (Crystal) Labanauskas and Stasys Labanauskas. Her hope for the future lies in her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, whom she loved unconditionally: Ryleigh Ferrill, Nicole Labanauskas, Zachary (Taylor, Hattie, Poppie) Ferrill, and Katie Labanauskas. She is also survived by her brother, Alfonsas (Vanda and family), many family members in Chicago, the Meyers and Barksdale families, and the whole Second Mile Ranch gang — who were without question, family.
A celebration of Regina’s life will be held in the Methow and announced at a later date. The family will continue to celebrate her each year during the traditional Lithuanian Christmas Eve dinner, Kucios, which was one of Regina’s most cherished annual traditions.
“Meilei nera galo” — There is no end to love!
