The line to get into the Four Inns restaurant during the lunch rush used to snake past the cash register and out the door. Among those waiting were office workers, judges and musicians — a true cross-section of those who worked or lived in downtown St. Paul.

And there to welcome them all for so many years was Elise Lonnee.

Lonnee ran the former restaurant with her late husband, John “Jack” Lonnee, for decades. She died Saturday at St. Joseph’s Hospital in St. Paul from a sudden case of sepsis at the age of 88.

Jack Lonnee died in 2015 at age 87.

While many in St. Paul may remember the couple for their food and hospitality, their family recalls their kindness and dedication to their community and church.

“They did a lot of good things in their life and I’m honored to be able to call them mom and dad,” daughter Susie Jacquart said.

Elise and Jack Lonnee opened the Four Inns in the Minnesota Building in 1968. The name came from the “Four Inns of Court” in old London, where lawyers learned their trade. In the early days of the restaurant, many of its patrons were lawyers who worked in the office building and judges who worked in the nearby Ramsey County Courthouse.

A few years later, the Four Inns moved to the skyway level of what is now the U.S. Bank Center. It was a sit-down diner serving only freshly made food. Regulars raved about the specials and the pies.

“In the 1980s, they were serving 1,000 people a day at lunchtime,” daughter Debbie Lonnee said. “It was a busy, busy place.”

Elise Lonnee would host, keep the books and help out wherever she was needed. Every day, she would print the daily menu, adding the day’s specials and soup choices.

Office workers would bring Elise Lonnee funny cartoons, which she hung on the wall. They always made her laugh.

“You couldn’t see the door,” Debbie Lonnee said. “She just loved a good, dirty little joke.”

According to Debbie Lonnee, the Four Inns had plenty of regulars who remembered her mother years after she retired in 1990.

“Even now, we would walk into a store and people would recognize her and say, ‘You’re Elise from the Four Inns!’” Debbie Lonnee said. The family eventually sold the restaurant, which closed in 2015 after nearly 50 years in business.

Outside of her job, Elise Lonnee liked to sew and crochet. She always made things for her children, grandchildren and customers, crocheting at least 500 booties in her life and many baby blankets.

“She made them for so many customers,” Jacquart said. “When anybody pregnant came in, she was crocheting like a madwoman.”

Elise Lonnee was also active with her church, first at Immaculate Heart of Mary and most recently at St. Thomas Becket in Eagan. She read scripture and prayers during the services and was a member of the church choir, alongside her husband, for more than 40 years.

On her last day working at the Four Inns, which the St. Paul mayor declared Four Inns Day, a group of judges, some of her regulars, came in wearing their robes. They called forward Elise and Jack Lonnee and gave them a signed menu and a gavel, both of which Jacquart still has.

“That was a very special tribute to them,” Jacquart said.

Elise Lonnee is survived by five children, Mary Beth Lonnee, Debbie Lonnee, Mike Lonnee, Susie Jacquart and Bobby Lonnee; a sister, Mary Lappann; 12 grandchildren; and 17 great-grandchildren.

Her life will be celebrated Saturday, June 29, at St. Thomas Becket Church in Eagan. Visitation begins at 9 a.m. with a service at 10 a.m. followed by a luncheon.