James Oscar Lohr Jr.

Long time Talbot resident and well-regarded Easton High School Chemistry teacher James Oscar Lohr, Jr. passed away from lymphoma Tuesday, March 17, 2026, at Talbot Hospice. He was 91. Mr. Lohr was born on 9/17/1934 at home in Indian Head, PA., to James Oscar Lohr, Sr., a coalminer, and Virginia Edith Beahm, housewife and piano teacher. Due to very challenging circumstances relating to his father's waist down paralysis from a work injury, James left home at a relatively young age and came to the Eastern Shore with a suitcase and $5 in his pocket. He began working for Norman Fike at Fike's Orchard, where he started to develop a lifelong appreciation for quality machinery, skilled mechanic work, plentiful and legendary Pennsylvania Dutch home-cooked meals (made better still by equally plentiful hard work), and along the way much else besides. Rivers that ran both ways. Land with no rocks in it. Loblolly pines. Blue crabs and oysters. Striped bass and Canada geese in numbers beyond imagining. He began to become acquainted with a larger world than what he knew, and with the people of the Eastern Shore, some of the most resilient, accomplished, welcoming, and loyal people he would ever know. After 1 1/3 years he was visited at Fike's by an admissions officer from Bridgewater College who offered James the best scholarship the school provided at the time- $200 per year. So began 4 years of study and personal growth while he pursued his B.A. in chemistry, along with a developing interest in two of the greatest loves of his life- music, and the young lady who would eventually become his wife, Loretta Hartman. Upon graduation in the spring of 1957 James was hired by Talbot County Public Schools to begin teaching chemistry at Easton High School, which developed into a career lasting 37 years. James was keenly aware how differently his life might have turned out but for the intercession of key people at critical times in his own life and so for most of those 37 years his classroom remained open to any of his students who wanted extra help after regular school hours. In addition to formal classroom teaching, he also tutored numerous nursing students, more than a few of whom remain in nursing to this day. In the classroom he could be strict, but he was also able to be very generous with his time, energy, teaching skill and knowledge. The creation of the "teachable moment" was an art unto itself, not a thing to be trifled with, and woe to any who distracted his class from it. He believed that what he taught in his classroom mattered- to his students, their families, and to the larger world. He was a firm believer in the lasting value of a strong public education system, the daily proof of which is all around us, everywhere we turn. He also understood that with knowledge comes power, and with power comes responsibility. He continued his own pursuit of knowledge after his time at Bridgewater, undertaking graduate level studies at UNC Chapel Hill, and graduating from the University of Maryland in 1970 with a Master's degree in Science Education. Daddy had numerous visitors at home, in the hospital, and in hospice and all were welcomed. One who came shortly before he passed was Dr. Sanchez who offered Daddy one of the highest forms of praise anyone can bestow on another when he said, "You have made a difference". So true because that has always been a thread that has run consistently throughout his life. We would especially like for his former students to know that you have been a frequent topic of conversation at our kitchen table for as long as we can remember. What schools you've attended. How you've done. What you've been up to. You have been thought of and you have been cared about all these years. We believe that people are the sum total of all whom they have known over their lifetime. If that is true, then James is some combination of all his teachers, family, his students, and everyone else who has made an impression on him and possibly influenced him to adjust his thinking, however slight or great that influence may have been. A comprehensive list would fill a book, but a relatively short list would have to include family like the Gearys, Beahms, Mitchells, Caufmans, Lohrs, Rittenhouses, Treichlers, Webbs, and Hartmans. Students and friends and their families include but are not limited to the John Harrisons, the Steve Rasins, Tom, Ted, and Charles Schwaninger, the Walbridges, the Hutchison family, Percy, Will, and Priscilla Warner, the Barry Fox family, Jimmy Mitchell, Eddie Gay, Edwin Flamer, the Mielke family, the Schnoor family, Ed Collier, Jacob Bernstein, the Roscoe Brown family, the Mark Cauffman family, David and Sheila Watson, and many, many others. You are all part of who he became over time and in the final analysis that is a good thing. When he wasn't teaching he was often, and for many years, doing other work including 35 years with the USDA as a produce inspector. If you eat food and it didn't kill you, if it looked pretty good and tasted pretty good, you can thank the USDA in part. He worked for Jim Glessner at Elliott Wilson's front end shop for one summer, learning the intricacies of Peterbilt heavy truck maintenance. Two summers were spent working for Mullikin's Refrigeration, learning from one of Talbot County's finest, most naturally gifted HVAC/ plumbing/electrical mechanics. And as if that weren't more than enough already, he also owned and operated his own business, Tidewater Pool Service, doing business from Fairlee (Kent County), to Cambridge, and places in between. Looking back now it hardly seems possible there was ever time for much else besides work, church, and immediate family needs, and yet there were numerous camping trips to the Outer Banks, Assateague Island and elsewhere, visits with family and friends, hunting trips, crabbing and fishing trips- he was an integral part of successful elk hunting trips to southwestern Colorado, and equally successful trips to Northern Maine for moose and to Wyoming for pronghorn antelope, in addition to countless deer hunting adventures locally with the Newcomb family of Cod's Point Farm, the Bakers of Wickersham Farm, and the Trax and the Ike Nave families on their respective farms. After a richly earned retirement commenced in 1994 he had more time to devote to the pastimes he enjoyed. He sang often and well with groups including the Chesapeake Choraliers, the Easton Choral Arts Society, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and Orchestra Chorus at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall (a 3-night performance), as well as his church choir, and at home. It is worth noting that late in his life, and after years of making disparaging comments regarding country music, the Ken Burns/PBS treatment of that genre was closely observed by Daddy throughout its airing. One could see him reconsidering his opinion and not long after the conclusion of the final broadcast we bore witness to the change in his thinking vis a vis country music, noting that he often had his pickup radio tuned to a country station on his return home at the end of the Thursday work days at Camp Mardela. One ponders what the results might have been if Ken Burns had chosen to focus his energies on R&B, Pop, Soul, Rock, or God forbid, Gospel. He continued doing most of his own mechanic work, tinkering in his shop, building several Pennsylvania ("Kentucky') rifles, volunteer work in Nashville, TN., Gotha, FL., Camp Mardela, interactions with the Wye River Beekeepers, Choptank Muzzleloaders, numerous travels across the continental U.S., Alaska, Canada, and abroad to Spain, Italy, France, Germany, and U.K. Daddy has had a long, productive, and remarkable life. He never quit, never gave up in spite of many challenges and disappointments. Just one week before he passed, he was still able to enjoy good literature and good conversation. In the midst of his loss we are grateful and so proud that to the end he never lost his unique sense of humor, perspective, and courage, and equally incredible, within 6 months prior to his passing he was still operating chainsaws and log splitters, and engaging in most of the activities he always enjoyed, in spite of the ravages of lymphoma. As a cousin and I have remarked recently- he was Pennsylvania tough. We knew he was dying and so maybe we might have been better prepared having witnessed so many other endings of life and funerals, but no one can really understand that kind of loss until you are there. It cuts deep and only in time will that hurt fade. The steadying help from friends and family has gone far to make this loss easier. Lastly, to all the staff at Talbot Hospice and Easton Hospital- thank you for your constant empathy, humor, and patience, and the above and beyond accommodation. It is extraordinary and this community is truly blessed and fortunate to have what we have here. Mr. Lohr leaves behind to grieve his loss his wife of 66 years Loretta Lohr, , one surviving sibling Elizabeth Watson, three children, Kevin Lohr (Monick Conway), Jeffrey Lohr, Susan Lohr (Jay Aiken), three grandsons, Stephen Parks (Ashley), Adam Lohr, Joshua Lohr, (Kenia) and three great grandchildren, Trynton, Charlotte Anne, and Isaiah, along with countless former students, friends, co-workers, and relatives. He will be missed. There will be a visitation on Tuesday, May 19, 2026, 5 PM to 7 PM at Fellows, Helfenbein, and Newnam Funeral Home in Easton. A celebration of life will be held at the Easton Church of the Brethren on May 20, 2026, at 11 AM. In lieu of flowers memorial donations can be made to Talbot Hospice, Camp Mardela, and Talbot County Public Schools.

James Oscar Lohr Jr.

September 17, 1934 - March 17, 2026