John R. Loughran was called home Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015, to be with his beloved wife, who preceded him in 2007.
Born Nov. 25, 1917, on a homestead in Lingle, Wyo., to John O. and Mary H. (Walker) Loughran, he was one of six children, Catherine, Ellen, Joseph, Robert and Mary. At age 2 the family moved to Pacific Grove, Calif., where John attended school and became captain of his high school football team and secretary of the student body.
After graduation, John supported his mother, working at the city's recreation department until enlisting in the U.S. Army Air Forces in 1942. As a staff sergeant, he was stationed in Hawaii before returning to Pacific Grove upon his discharge from the 7th Fighter Wing in 1945.
John was raising a young daughter and son on his own when he met Helen (Liddell) Brown, widowed with two young sons of her own. They were soon married and had another son and daughter. The couple raised their children, Edward, Richard, Jacquelyn, Franklin, Thomas and Linda on the Monterey Peninsula, where John worked for Pacific Gas and Electric. In 1969, the couple and the two youngest children moved to Kooskia, where John worked for the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Upon his retirement, they moved to Clarkston, where he remained until after his wife's death.
His wife, Helen; first wife, Lillian; parents; siblings; and children, Jacqueline and Franklin, preceded him and were waiting to welcome him home.
John, a perfectionist, never realized how talented he was. He could, and did, build anything - houses, a bridge, a beautiful stone fireplace. He would collect bent and rusty car parts and turn them into beautiful, functioning Model A Ford automobiles. One Christmas, as a prank, he welded together nails, screws, bolts and miscellaneous pieces of metal. He created animals and insects and people, and gave them as presents, but the joke was on him when everyone wanted one of his creations. In later life he loved to "tinker" in his shop and devoted his creativity to building bird houses, whirligigs, and experimenting with grafting fruit trees. He was active in the Lewiston Crankers Antique Car Club and was a lifelong hunter and fisherman.
John leaves behind children, Edward (Carole), Richard, Thomas, Linda (Rich); daughter-in-law Donna (Franklin); 11 grandchildren; 41 great grandchildren; and two great-great grandchildren.
In his last hours, his granddaughters, Lisa and Molly, and daughter-in-law Donna were by his side along with the supportive staff at Guardian Angel Homes. Please join the family in a memorial service for John and Helen Loughran, to be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Feb. 7 at the Barn at Guardian Angel Homes in Lewiston, followed by the burial at Normal Hill Cemetery.
