Franklin Loehde's Obituary
Franklin Caesar John Theodore Loehde was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on 17 November, 1936 to the late Heinz Caesar and Mitzi (Marie) Merth Loehde.
He was preceded in death by his wife Audrey June Loehde née Lea-Wilson in 1989.
He is survived by his elder sister Marlies Loehde in Vancouver, BC, his younger brother Dick in Morinville, AB, his wife Valerie and their children Theresa, Debbye and grandchildren. Franklin is also survived by his three children, Jason in Huntersville, NC, his wife Veena and their children, Diana in Seattle, WA, her husband Michael Arends and grandchildren Nicole and Janelle, as well as his youngest daughter Laureen in London, England with husband Conor Mackey and grandchildren Hugo and Killian.
He was an avid traveler and explorer, visiting every continent save Antarctica and had a rich and curious mind, finding interests wherever he went. One of his first passions was astronomy, starting in high school. In university he was active at the Dominion Astronomical Observatory and made many contributions to the Telus World of Science over a number of decades. Another one of his keen interests was music, he sang in his youth and attended hundreds of concerts from opera to jazz, to world music to electronica. His family attended many of these with him and he inspired many other people to share his interests.
He met Audrey in the staff room at Bonnie Doon High School in Edmonton where they were both teachers (He physics/science and she english) and they were married in 1965. Jason was born in 1967, followed by Diana in 1970 and Laureen in 1973.
He was also past national president of Royal Astronomical Society of Canada of which he was a member for 65 years. He was a co-founder, past president and fund raiser at the Edmonton Regional Science Fair. He continued to be a keen astrophotographer into his later years and added global weather patterns to his interests.
Franklin was motivated by politics and was active in conservative parties at both the provincial and federal level in Canada. He was also a keen backer of the Edmonton Eskimos and Edmonton Oilers.
He moved to Charlotte, North Carolina in 2018 to be closer to his son and daughter-in-law.
As he would say:
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
Services will be livestreamed at https://www.jamesfuneralhomelkn.com/obituaries/Franklin-Loehde/#!/PhotosVideos
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