Lohr_Robert(1961)

Robert Lohr
Class of 1961 - Inducted in 2019

Robert Lohr was awarded the Merit Award at the SHSAA Packer Sports Greats banquet in 2019.

Bob graduated from South High in 1961 and joined the Navy. He became an electrician aboard ship. After serving in Vietnam, he returned to Omaha. He was hired by the IBEW Local 22 and was with the company for 40 years.

Bob’s sports fame might be different from the kind in which other athletes are selected. In 1973, Bob Lohr along with John Kapert and Rich Balaskas founded the United Soccer Club, beginning with one team at Hitchcock Park. They ended with more than twelve teams participating. At that time, Omaha had basketball, baseball and football teams. Soccer was a new endeavor. For the next ten years, Bob coached a few of those soccer teams pro-bono and provided uniforms, equipment, transportation and any other necessities required for players. In the mid-seventies he refereed soccer for no salary, and continued to do so for the next 27 years – refereeing over a thousand games.

In 1979, Bob officiated McGuire Cup, the National Youth Soccer Championship finals at UNO’s Caniglia Field. After the Nebraska High School Athletic Association sanctioned soccer, Bob refereed in eight championship games for boys and girls. He went on to referee college soccer games for NISOA. He served as Vice President of the Eastern Nebraska Soccer Association and is a former member of the Nebraska State Soccer Association. Bob retired in 2004 and has continued his love for the game by instilling the same kind of work ethic in his sons and grandsons.