Robert (Bob) William Lorenc

Robert (Bob) Lorenc was born October 26, 1939 in Chicago, Illinois to parents Edward and Alvina (Krepel) Lorenc. He grew up and attended school in Lockport, Illinois.

He was a talented musician who played several instruments including folk and electric guitars, banjo, ukulele, drums, electronic keyboards, the organ and harmonica. He played in bands called The Pole Cats and The Casuals in his late teens and early 20’s. He met his wife Mari at a dance in Lockport and they married in March of 1962. He enlisted in the United States Army in 1962 and was deployed to Vietnam. In the army he was trained to become a master photographer. He took and developed many interesting photos which documented the history of army life in Vietnam during the war. When he returned home after serving, he used his photography skills to take many photos of his wife and daughter Lisa, who was born while he was serving in Vietnam.

The family was based in Yuma, Arizona until Bob was discharged from the Army in 1967. Son Christopher was born there in 1965. They moved back to Illinois to be close to family and Bob began a career in the grocery business. He worked as a produce clerk or manger in many different grocery stores over the years and at one time owned and operated a 7-11 convenience store. Wife Mari became a real estate agent and invested in several properties which Bob often remodeled and prepared for rental or sale.

Bob enjoyed fishing, playing music, family get-togethers, and handy work. His large family of aunts and uncles had summer picnics and reunions that were always fun. He also loved spending time with Mari’s parents, Grandma and Grandpa Taylor, traveling to Southern Illinois to fish and ride horses near their country home. Mari’s brothers and their families often came over for parties and music jam sessions.

Bob was not only gifted musically, but he was artistic in that he like to draw, make crafty items, and build things. He drew cartoon characters, made mini-sculptures out of nails and various metals and built decks, sheds and a gazebo for our yard. Unfortunately, he also liked to spray paint EVERYTHING… including stripes on cars he owned and even the upholstery of his 1980 Pontiac Firebird. You know how many people think you can fix anything with duct tape; he felt the same about spray paint.

The family moved to Texas in 1985. Bob found work at Kroger Food Stores where he was employed until he retired in 2012. During his years in Texas, granddaughters Caroline and Taylor were born. He loved to spend time with them goofing around, playing music and having cookouts and swim parties at home. The family vacationed together in Mexico and Jamaica where we had some of our best times.

He loved his dogs, Soapy, Brandy, “dog” (yes we had a dog named dog), Baby, Sammy, and Gi Gi. He enjoyed watching boxing and pro-football and was an avid Dallas Cowboys fan. He told corny jokes and liked to do crossword puzzles.

Bob was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2010. His symptoms progressed the last few years. The family is proud of how he courageously endured DBS brain surgery in 2016 to improve his Parkinson’s symptoms and participated in home therapy. When he broke his hip and was hospitalized in March, he tried his best to do speech, occupational and physical therapy when he could muster the strength, all while being connected to a trach and feeding tube and fighting pneumonia and various infections.

The suffering has ended. May he rest in peace.

Bob is survived by his loving wife Mari Lorenc, daughter Lisa Horn and her husband Gary, son R. Christopher Lorenc and his wife Nelly, granddaughters Emma and Caroline Lorenc and Taylor Horn, step granddaughter Shanna Bolte, great grandchildren Chandler, Sunny, Ambiance and Lunaray, sister Marilyn Koch. He is survived by several beloved nieces and nephews, brother-in-law Dale Wroblewski, sister-in-law Jill Taylor. Pre-deased by his parents, Edward and Alvina Lorenc, his mother and father-in-law Clarence and Caroline Taylor, sister Delores Wroblewski and his brother-in-laws John and Michael Taylor.

The family will receive friends for a visitation Thursday, August 16, 2018 from 5-7:00 P.M. at Allen Family Funeral Options. A Mass of the Resurrection will be celebrated Friday, August 17, 2018 at 10:30 A.M. at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church, 2700 W Spring Creek Pkwy, Plano, Texas 75023 with The Reverend Bruce Bradley officiating.
There will be a reception immediately following the mass in the Parrish Hall.

If desired, contributions may be made in Bob’s name to The Parkinson's Foundation, 200 SE 1st Street, Suite 800, Miami, Florida 33131, 1-800-
473-4636 or www.parkinson.org


“A MESSAGE FROM BOB’S DAUGTHER, LISA”


I guess you could say I was a daddy’s girl but not in the sense of most father daughter relationships. We did not have long deep conversations. Nor did he offer me life advice or verbally express his pride or love very often. However, even from a young age I know he loved me.

Evidence was in the hundreds of pictures he took of me and my mom when he returned from Vietnam. He was a master photographer and I was his supermodel. He liked to do camera tricks like make it look like I had a twin and there were two of me in my crib. My mom said he bought me a couple expensive dresses for a special occasion when they were broke.

He drove me to and from years of dance lessons even though he would have to leave to pick me up in the middle of his favorite TV show. He drove me to school when I missed the bus which happened at least once a month or more. When my mom worked late evenings selling real estate, Dad would make dinner for my brother and me. One of his standard meals was called “cowboy supper” which was ground beef and pork and beans. We also feasted on fish sticks with tartar sauce or chipped beef and gravy over toast.

He would excitedly bring home boxes of dented grocery items that he got for next to nothing or free from the grocery store he worked at. Our favorites were Pillsbury turnovers, cinnamon rolls, and those crescent rolls you baked after twisting and cracking the cardboard tube open. Fun to open and fun to eat! At the 7-11 he owned, he let my brother and I run the cash register and have free Slurpee’s (if we used our own cup; because the customer cups cost money)!

My dad taught me how to draw these silly cartoons we called “goofy guys” which years later he taught my daughter Taylor to draw when she was in grade school. In the 70’s, my mom and Dad looked like Sonny and Cher. Many good times were spent partying with neighbors, aunts and uncles and cousins. While in I was in high school and college we had music jams in our basement with friends and my dad let us all try his instruments. His drums, electric guitars and amplifiers let us be rock stars for the evening.

In 1984 my mom moved to Texas and Dad and I stayed behind to get the house sold before we could join her. I had just graduated from college and dad was not working so we were on a strict budget. He and I would go to Aldi’s discount store and argue when he would put cookies in the cart and I would take them out saying we didn’t need them. I guess that’s where I get my frugalness from or maybe I was finally learning that packaged cookies and Pillsbury turnovers weren’t the most nutritious choices.

Dad loved to watch Saturday Night Live in the good old days when Gilda Radner was “Rosanne Rosannadanna”, John Belushi was the “Samurai” and Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin and Dan Aykroyd did the Weekend Update. We always got a kick out of mimicking those characters and recalling our favorite skits.

Dad loved to have family cookouts on summer holidays and make chili for Sunday Cowboys games in the fall and winter. Occasionally he would get his guitar or harmonica out after we finished dinner and play for us. He loved sweets, so every year I brought him Queen Anne’s chocolate covered cherries for Christmas, marshmallow PEEPs for Easter and chocolate eclairs for his birthday and Father’s Day.

Dad was a homebody, but he never said no to a family vacation in the Caribbean. Our family traveled to all-inclusive resorts in Jamaica, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. He loved to listen to Reggae music, eat cheeseburgers and have an occasional shot of tequila. Dad and I took long walks down the beach together to see what we could discover. Once we saw hundreds of turtle’s hatch and make their way to sea.

Our last daddy daughter time together was in March when I drove him to downtown Dallas for a doctor’s appointment. We went to lunch together and afterwards I was about to take him home when he asked if we could stop at the Habitat for Humanity Store to browse. I had told him that I recently discovered that it was a cool place to look for treasures, so we went on a treasure hunt. We didn’t buy anything but had fun looking at all the things they had.

Seven days later he fell, broke his hip, went into the hospital and began his fight. The journey has been heartbreaking and exhausting, but I am grateful to have been able to help care for him and visit him almost daily. When he was lucid he squeezed my hand, sometimes laughed when I couldn't make out what he was saying and waved, or fist bumped me as I left. When he was stronger, I did rehab exercises with him and we tossed a play ball back and forth.

I will surely miss my Dad, but I am glad his suffering has ended. He is at peace now and hopefully enjoying some great music, a cheeseburger and a chocolate eclair.