Iowa Mourns: Emma Lohmann lived large in small town

She was 72 years old when she learned to drive.

A license wasn’t necessary for most of Emma Lohmann’s long life. Most places she needed to go were within walking distance, and her husband did the necessary driving.

But Carl Lohmann’s death in 1995 meant his widow, Emma, would have to get behind the wheel in order to sustain the active lifestyle that was her trademark. She had cards to play, and the golf course was waiting.

Emma grew up in Saginaw, Wisconsin, and first laid eyes on the man she would marry while working in a local drug store. The story of Emma and Carl’s meeting is one of the earliest pieces of evidence of her determined will, said Debbie Bennin, one of the couple’s four children.

“She picked out my dad the first time he walked in the store,” she said. “She turned to her co-worker and said, ‘I’m going to get a date with that man.’

“And here we are. She was very determined.”

The couple married before Carl shipped out to serve in World War II in 1945. They built their home and raised their family in Wheatland, Iowa.

“We celebrated their 50th anniversary two-and-a-half weeks before Dad died,” Bennin said. “She was alone in the house for about 11 years, and she had to learn to drive, so she could continue to do the things she enjoyed.”

Once the ladies’ champ at Wapsi Oaks Country Club, Emma’s obituary noted her hole-in-one. She continued to play after Carl’s death, along with many games of cards, especially rummy. The game was less intense than the rounds of bridge that were staples during her marriage.

“She enjoyed board games, too, and we were always entertained as kids,” her daughter said. “We are all very interested in music, which we got from her. When we get together now, we sing — just like she did with her (five) siblings.”

When Emma went into an assisted-living facility in Ottumwa in 2006, she was sad to leave Wheatland behind. But, as always, she kept active.

When her memory started to fail at the age of 95, Emma moved into Good Samaritan Nursing Home in Ottumwa, where she passed away in a COVID-19 quarantine room on August 20 at age 97.

She left her children with enough memories to last their lifetimes. Most of Bennin’s recollections revolve around the woman her mother was — her very presence.

“I tried thinking of a favorite memory, but I kept going back to her feistiness and her strength,” she said. “I think all of my memories kind of revolve around that. She was a good example for all of us.

“She was always the life of the party but not in a bad way. She wanted to get people going, get them active.”

Emma’s four children and six grandchildren had a small funeral in Clarence, Iowa, where they wore masks, tried to keep a safe distance from one another and welcomed some old friends from Wheatland.

Just over a month after her death, Bennin said she knows the coming months will be hard. December had been a difficult month for her mom, because her dad and several of her mom’s sisters passed away in December.

But Emma always rallied to make the holidays special.

“Christmas will be tough,” she said. “Mom was always one to have Dad putting up lights, and they’d do all the decorations. When she went into assisted living, we always brought a little tree up to her room.

“She had a good, long life, and we’ll miss her for a long time.”