Greensburg husband, wife died 5 days apart, remembered as 'classic American couple'

Howard and Frances Loflin were the “classic American couple,” according to daughter Stephanie Mulligan.

“All of our friends tell me that my parents showed them what true love and marriage was like when they grew up in homes that didn’t have love,” Mulligan said.

Meeting in kindergarten in Oberlin, Ohio, the couple spent a lifetime together raising three girls and carrying on a long line of military careers.

“They just fit so perfectly together,” said daughter Jennifer Kilby. “And they just went everywhere together. Everywhere that dad went mom went and vice versa. They were happy if the other was happy.”

The couple died five days apart.

Howard B. Loflin died Tuesday, April 30, 2019, in his Greensburg home. He was 69. Born in Dennison, Ohio, Jan. 7, 1950, he was the son of John and Jo Rita Loflin.

Frances J. Loflin died Sunday, May 5, 2019, at home. She was 68. Born in Oberlin, Ohio, Sept. 28, 1950, she was the daughter of Henry and Ernestine Schmitz.

Spending 10 years in the Navy, the couple started their marriage in California. Serving two tours in Vietnam, the couple lived in Spain, Virginia, Florida and Ohio, eventually settling down in Greensburg in 1996. He worked as the director of field service for the Elliott Co. in Jeannette. Mrs. Loflin worked for First National Bank, and on the side as a seamstress, making formal dresses for her daughters along with wedding and bridesmaids dresses, a talent that helped her win blue ribbons at the Lorain County Fair.

But what she was most known for were her chocolate chip and cutout cookies, Kilby said.

“She could strike up a conversation with anyone,” Kilby said. “Growing up as her daughters, we could go nowhere without running into someone she knew and it did not matter what city or state we were in. I swear we were always running into someone who knew our parents.”

In her free time, Mrs. Loflin enjoyed gardening, especially growing roses, while Mr. Loflin often spent time working on cars, fishing, hunting and spending time with family and friends. Kilby added that every year on their aniversary, “no matter where in the world my dad was … my mom always received a dozen red roses.”

“He was such a big man,” Kilby said. “There’s not one word. He was larger than life, he was honorable and trustworthy …. My dad was very, very proud to have been a veteran of the U.S. Navy, and I think my mom was even more proud of him and to be a Navy wife.”

The couple is survived by their daughters Kilby, Mulligan and Hilary Loflin; and three grandchildren.

The couple is having a joint funeral. Friends will be received from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the Leo M. Bacha Funeral Home, 516 Stanton St., Greensburg. A memorial service will follow at 1 p.m. A memorial Mass will be celebrated 10 a.m. Saturday, June 29, at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Oberlin, Ohio.