Community volunteer, avid sailor, WWII veteran
Paul von Loesecke. (Courtesy photo)
Paul Hathaway von Loesecke, 89, formerly of Needham, died Tuesday, May 26, 2015, at Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital in Bedford following complications related to Alzheimer’s disease. His wife of 64 years, Constance A. (Sturenburg) von Loesecke, died in March 2012.
Paul was born in Boston on August 21, 1925, the second child born to Sidney S. and Ruth W. (Witt) von Loesecke, and was raised in Newton Centre. He attended Newton Public Schools, graduating with the Class of 1943. During summers spent in Freeport, Maine, he developed a lifelong passion for the sea and boating. Paul went on to attend Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, graduating in 1949 with a degree in economics and a minor in engineering. His attendance at Brown was interrupted by World War II; he served in the Pacific Theater for the Army.
Paul had developed a childhood friendship with Connie, also of Newton, that led to courtship and their marriage in 1948. They settled in Boston while Paul completed his degree and Connie worked at MIT Labs as a chemist.
In 1950, Connie and Paul settled in Needham to raise a family. Paul was active in Christ Episcopal Church on the vestry and volunteered with the Boy Scouts. During this period Paul and Connie developed a love of family skiing and boating. They joined the White Mountain Ski Runners Club in Intervale, New Hampshire, and owned a succession of sailboats for cruising the coastal waters. They sailed each summer on Casco Bay and Penobscot Bay and took the journey of a lifetime down the intracoastal waterway to Key West, Florida.
Paul began his professional career as an engineer with Babcock & Wilcox, followed by a career in international sales for the Foxboro Company. He traveled the world extensively and also brought the world to his own doorstep. Following the opening of China in the early 1980s, he hosted at his home one of the earliest delegations of Chinese government officials intent on attracting American companies to form joint ventures.
Paul and Connie retired to Harvard in the early 1980s, where their home on Bare Hill Pond became the focal point of their many activities and family gatherings. Paul served on the Bare Hill Pond Association, became president of the Ayer chapter of Rotary Club, and organized the annual “Ducky Wucky” race. He also served as chairman of the Devens Enterprise Commission, which was tasked with repurposing of the former Fort Devens Army base. Paul and Connie were hosts to frequent Rotary Club social events and developed a large circle of friends among volunteer organizations. They joined the Camden Yacht Club in Maine, which along with their boat Nepenthe, was their home away from home.
Equally at ease with the young and old, Paul cast a wide net of friendships and was known for his generous humor and his passion for striking up an interesting conversation.
Paul leaves two sons and their wives, David S. and Karen J. von Loesecke of Hingham, and Peter S. and Alice J. von Loesecke of Harvard; his older sister, Jean Hayes of Springfield; and five grandchildren, Kristen, Emily, Tyler, Claire, and Jeffrey.
A memorial service and celebration of life will be held Saturday, July 11, at 11 a.m. at the Harvard Congregational Church, 5 Still River Road. There will be a private family interment.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in honor of Paul to the Alzheimer’s Association at www.alz.org/join_the_cause_donate.asp.
