'It's great to live in Jackson': Friends, colleagues remember Barbara Lohr

A woman described as “the first lady of Jackson” and who served as the town’s first female mayor, Barbara Lohr, died this week while on a family vacation in Florida. She was 83 years old.

“She was enjoying a vacation last week with her grandchildren and family at Walt Disney World, and for three days she was the happiest I’ve seen her in quite a while,” her oldest son, Jim Lohr, told the Southeast Missourian on Wednesday.

But on Friday she experienced what her son described as health issues that required medical care. She died Tuesday afternoon at an Orlando-area hospital.

Barbara Lohr, center, hugs her grandson Bobby Jansen, 10, upon hearing that she won the 2007 Jackson Mayoral election on Tuesday, April 3, 2007. Lohr's friend Linda Penzel, left, listens as final numbers from the election came in.Southeast Missourian

Funeral arrangements are incomplete at McCombs Funeral Home and Cremation Center in Jackson and will be announced in a few days.

Lohr served four terms as Jackson’s mayor, from 2007 until 2015, when she was defeated in her bid for a fifth term by current Mayor Dwain Hahs. Before becoming mayor, she served 11 years on the Jackson Planning and Zoning Commission, chairing the commission for five years, and represented Ward 1 on the Jackson Board of Aldermen from 2002 until 2007.

“She loved Jackson and showed it through her years of service to the community,” Hahs said. “You’d always see her through the community. She’d be at every Friday night football game rooting on the [Jackson High School] Indians. She also participated in various roles with the St. Louis Iron Mountain Railroad and was very involved with Uptown Jackson and the Jackson History Center, where she served as a docent for many years.”

Jackson Mayor Barbara Lohr laughs at the banter of Jackson aldermen shortly after taking the oath of office in May 2007.Southeast Missourian

‘Shocked to hear the news’

Several current and past members of the Jackson Board of Aldermen expressed both surprise and sadness over the news of Lohr’s death.

“I was shocked to hear the news,” said Phil Penzel, who was an alderman for more than a dozen years and served on the board with Lohr.

“Her dedication to the City of Jackson is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of her,” Penzel said. “When she was elected [mayor], she appointed me to serve as mayor pro tem, which basically meant I would handle meetings whenever she was gone, but she had such a strong dedication to her position that she never missed a meeting, so I never had to run one.”

Wanda Young, who currently represents Jackson’s Ward 1, said her friendship with Lohr predated their service in city government when they were both members of Jackson Noon Optimists.

“I’ve never met anybody so involved in Jackson, so very committed to the community,” Young said. “From little kids up through senior citizens, she cared about everybody.”

Ward 4 Alderman Joe Bob Baker said Lohr was a “remarkable” person who “truly loved” Jackson and its residents.

“Over the years we became very close friends,” Baker said. “She was always there for me, and I never forgot that. She and I walked many miles knocking on doors to campaign for each other. She was always very loyal to me — was a true friend. This is a great loss to the City of Jackson.”

Jackson Mayor Barbara Lohr expresses delight with the passage of a sales tax for the city fire department in 2010.Southeast Missourian

‘Trailblazer’

Jay Knudtson, who served as mayor of Cape Girardeau from 2002 until 2010, described Lohr as “a trailblazer” and the “first lady” of Jackson.

“There was probably no one I worked with as mayor that was more vigilant, more committed to her city, than she was to Jackson,” Knudtson said. “She bled [Jackson school] red through and through. And when there were times when there were minor differences between the City of Cape and the City of Jackson, I always knew where her heart was, and the citizens of Jackson always knew where her heart was, too.”

Knudtson remembered shopping at an antique mall a number of years ago when something he thought Lohr would appreciate caught his eye.

“There was a large Indian with a wonderful headdress, and I immediately thought of Barbara and thought about buying it for her,” Knudtson recalled. “It was symbolic of her absolute love of Jackson.”

In addition to her service as mayor, as an alderwoman and as a member and head of the Jackson Planning and Zoning Commission, Lohr also served on several other boards including MAGNET, Jackson Industrial Development Co., SEMO Regional Planning Commission, Southeast Metropolitan Planning Organization and Missouri Municipal League.

“Barbara was very influential in the chamber when I began,” said Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce president Brian Gerau. “And she was very instrumental in the partnership between the chamber and the city.” She received the Jackson chamber’s R.A. Fulenwider Meritorious Community Service Award in 2013.

Originally from Sikeston, Missouri, Lohr moved to Jackson in 1963 with her late husband, Bob, who coached football and wrestling at Jackson High School.

Barbara Lohr received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Southeast Missouri State College (now Southeast Missouri State University).

“My colors have always been red and black,” she was once quoted as saying. “From Sikeston, to SEMO and Jackson.”

Lohr served 13 years on the university’s alumni association board, from 1972 until 1985 and was the first woman elected to serve as the association’s president, from 1979 until 1981.

Jackson Mayor Barbara Lohr welcomes people to Homecomers in July 2007, her first Homecomers as mayor. Southeast Missourian

Outstanding educator

From 1970 until her retirement in 1998, Lohr was an instructor in the Cape Girardeau school system, where she taught office technology and coordinated the school’s Cooperative Office Education program. She was also an adjunct business instructor for several years at SEMO and served as a trainer for various adult education programs offered through the Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center.

In 1992, she was named an Outstanding Business Educator for the Southeast District by the Missouri Business Education Association and was inducted to membership in Who’s Who in Missouri Business Education. She was recognized by the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce as one of the chamber’s 1996 Educators of the Year.

The list of Lohr’s accomplishments and organizational affiliations is lengthy. Shortly after her death, several of those organizations posted memories and tributes to her life of service on their social media platforms.

As for her own Facebook page, Lohr’s final entry was posted May 31 shortly after the Jackson American Legion’s Memorial Day program, which took place that morning.

“There was a lot of toe-tapping going on as the Muny Band played wonderful patriotic music,” she wrote. “It’s great to live in Jackson.”

Jackson mayor Barbara Lohr welcomes attendees to 105th Jackson Homecomers celebration Tuesday, July 23, 2013 on the lawn of the Cape Girardeau County Courthouse in Jackson.Southeast Missourian file