Art Loux

[RJNorton]

I contacted Jen, Art Loux's daughter, and asked if the program for her father's memorial service could be posted on the forum. She replied that the family would appreciate it very much.

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A Celebration of the Life of
ARTHUR F. LOUX

Greeting, Words of Grace, and Prayer—The Rev. Ms. Anne Williams

Everlasting Arms

Art grew up in the Methodist Church, in which he was active throughout his childhood and youth. As an adult, he left the church, but Protestant Christianity colored his worldview for life. He loved Gospel music, enlisting his son-in-law during a recent visit to sing the harmony (“leaning on Jesus”) to Art’s own melody line on a favorite hymn which we present here; and he cited Psalm 121 as a portrait of the God he wanted to believe in. That song, that Psalm, and the musical selection we will hear at the end of the service—another of Art’s favorites—have in common the theme of God as a refuge and strength.

Music: Leaning on the Everlasting Arms (written 1887)
“What have I to dread, what have I to fear . . . Safe and secure from all alarms.”

Reading: Psalm 121

“The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: He shall preserve thy soul.”

Four Score and Seven Years

A dedicated, talented historian, Art won national recognition as a scholar of the Lincoln assassination. Two days before his death, he signed the publication contract for his book, John Wilkes Booth: Day by Day, the fruit of many years’ labor. It will stand as a memorial to Art.

A Testimonial from Laurie Verge, a fellow John Wilkes Booth scholar

Threescore Years and Ten

Art left us too soon, not quite having attained even the seventy years that Scripture allots as the life span of humankind. Yet his nearly seven decades were full of love and accomplishment, leaving an unforgettable legacy. Though Art was weak of body during his last years, his strong arms afforded his family unwavering, indispensable support that will sustain them for all time.

A Remembrance from Art’s big sister, Patricia Aber

A Tribute from Art’s family, composed and presented by the Rev. Ms. Anne Williams

A Pictorial Reminiscence

Closing Music and Words

We close with a song Art listened to frequently during the last week of his life.

Music: Keep on the Sunny Side (written 1899)
“. . . Let us trust in our Savior always, He’ll keep us every one in His care.”

Closing Prayer and Benediction
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Coda

Art’s family found the following self-authored obituary after their own version had gone to press at the Kansas City Star. The two documents proved to be reassuringly similar in content.

Arthur Frank Loux, historian, author, traveler, landscape architect, and genealogist, died on *** at his home. He was *** years old and lived in Stilwell, Kansas.

Mr. Loux was born on October 16, 1944, in Port Jervis, New York, the son of Arthur Francis Loux and Sylvia Lauer Loux, who predeceased him. He grew up in Milford, Pennsylvania. He was a graduate of Delaware Valley High School and of Lehigh University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics. His business career as a computer systems developer began at Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company in Newark, New Jersey, in 1966. He accepted a transfer to Kansas City in 1984 and retired from the company then known as Fortis Benefits in 1996.

Mr. Loux had a wide range of interests. He served as secretary of the Abraham Lincoln Group of New York and as president of the Lincoln Club of Topeka. He has been a member of the Civil War Round Table of New York, the Civil War Round Table of Kansas City, the Alexander Majors Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, and Mensa. His articles on the Lincoln assassination and on the Revolutionary War were published in several magazines. He was the author of the book John Wilkes Booth: Day by Day, published in 1991.

Numbering five Mayflower passengers in his ancestry, he researched his genealogy. He was an enthusiastic musician, amusing himself with guitar, banjo, mandolin, and harmonica. In his retirement years, he and his wife traveled widely and particularly enjoyed visits to England.

On May 20, 1974, he was united in marriage with Kathleen Mary Bojak in Linden, New Jersey. He is survived by his wife; their daughters, Jennifer R. Loux and her husband, Melvin Patrick Ely, of Richmond, Virginia, and Lauren M. Ryon and her husband, Sean H. Ryon, of Parker, Colorado; grandchildren Kaylie E. Ryon, Andrew L. Ryon, and Nathaniel P. Ely; sister, Patricia A. Aber; and brother, Richard J. Loux.