Alva (Al) Eugene Lohse June 14, 1932 - February 11, 2026

Alva (AI) Lohse of Clermont, Florida passed away on February 11, 2026 at the age of 94. He was born in 1932 to Orval and Nora Lohse (Holle) in Grand Island, Nebraska.

At the age of three, his parents, together with and his infant brother, Robert, moved to the tiny (pop. 150) farming community of Bremen, Kansas, where his father's parents needed "live in" assistance. It was in Bremen that Al spent his youthful days. Al's father became the Bremen banker, but Al was anything but a "banker's" son, as when school was not in session or on the weekends, Al spent much of his time on his two Uncle's farms, where he experienced sowing, reaping, threshing, milking, egg gathering, plowing, cultivating, baling, tractors, and working with teams of horses. When not on the farm, Al helped his mother with her large vegetable and flower garden, and thereby got into propagating several new varieties of bearded iris that still decorate the Midwest gardens today.

Al was active in the local Immanuel Lutheran Church youth Walther League, and attended Immanuel's one room, one teacher, parochial school for his first eight grades. He then attended high school in the nearby town of Marysville, and graduated in 1950. While in high school, he participated in Basketball and in Track & Field, where he set several records in the hurdles.

It was then that Al left Bremen to attend Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana. He remained in Valparaiso during the summer, to earn money for tuition, and to use the University's Track & Field facilities to train for the ten event decathlon. All was going well, until polio struck in 1952, just as Dr. Jonas Salk's polio vaccine was being developed and tested. Life changed completely, but continued on at a much slower pace, physically. With remote classes, summer school, and one extra semester, he graduated in January, 1955.

It was during that time in Indiana, that he met a local farm girl, Darlene Berkoski, and she became his one and only. They married that fall, and Al took a job with Illinois Bell Telephone who assigned him to a job in Chicago's Loop. They moved into Chicago, where they had their first child, Brian. As you might realize, inner city Chicago, and a farm background just do not mix. Al quit that job and eventually found his way to Orlando, FL, in 1960, where Martin Marietta (Now Lockheed Martin) was just beginning their Orlando Division, and could use Al's help. That union held fast for 30 years, when Al retired in 1990.

Upon retirement, the lure of travel got the best of Al & Darlene, and they moved out of their higher maintenance home in Windermere, FL, and into a Town Home unit in nearby Clermont, FL. From that time on, through 2019, whenever possible, they left Florida for 5-6 months in the summer and traveled about the continent, and a bit of the world. Over those years, they participated in 87 Road Scholar Programs with other seniors.

Al was active in the Woodlands Lutheran Church, just outside of Clermont, and enjoyed being the “Tootsie Roll” man to the many kids, big and little.

Al had many serious "hobbies" throughout his life. To mention a few, he loved wood working and built many kitted Grandmother and Grandfather clocks. He got into "stained glass" work, mostly of the 3-D version, and his works are all over the place. His childhood love of plants got him into propagating new species of hybrid hibiscus. He dabbled in acrylic and oil painting. He photographed flowers up close while traveling the Continent, and made greeting cards of all sorts with them. He began gourd art that began with a gourd that had actually housed a family of wrens in the early 90's in Kansas. It now is painted as a "Snow Man Santa," who comes out on display each Christmas season. Al won many blue ribbons at local gourd shows. Throughout their Continental travels, he collected leaves of all colors and shapes, and used them as the "medium" for greeting cards and framed pictures. Then, up to his final days, he developed mission booklets, featuring cats and dogs, each tolling the story of Jesus' love for all. These he distributed by the dozens to one and all - mostly the kids.

Al was preceded in death by his wife, Darlene, in 2019, and a brother, Robert (Narcine) Lohse, of Sun City West, AZ in 2023. Al is survived by two sons, Brian (Deborah) Lohse, Ocoee, FL, and Stuart Lohse of Winter Garden, FL. Additional survivors are four grandchildren, John, Kevin, Kristen, and Joshua, and 7 great-grandchildren, Tyler, Tristan, Tinsley, Libby, Logan, Harrison and Abigail,

A celebration of Al's life will be held on February 28, 2026 at the Woodlands Lutheran Church just outside of Montverde, FL. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Woodlands Lutheran Curch just outside of Monteverde, FL. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Woodlands, Lutheran Church, or to a charitable organization of your choice.