Thomas S. Loeber, 82,

Thomas S. Loeber, 82, who resided in Rancho Bernardo from 1981 to 1998, died in Fallbrook on January 7 of brain cancer. Mr. Loeber and his wife Rachelle were deacons at Fallbrook Presbyterian Church and among their many activities they tutored youngsters in the Los Amigos after-school program. In the last two years before his death, Tom traveled to Honduras twice and served as a translator with the World Health Organization on two medical missions trips. After 9-11-2001, he wrote several guest editorials for the North County Times about the nature of Islam and the unique culture of the Middle East, where he lived from 1957 to 1960. An avid hiker and birder, Tom was also a docent for the Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve.

Born in San Francisco in 1922, Mr. Loeber grew up near Griffith Park in Los Angeles and attended Los Angeles City College until 1943, when he enlisted in the Air Corps and married fellow student San Young. During WWII he served as a public relations correspondent in China. After the war, Tom earned a BS in biology from Pomona College and an MS in entomology from the University of Massachusetts. He was divorced in 1954 and later met and married Rachelle Mathews Porter, to whom he was married for 49 years.

In 1956, Mr. Loeber became a US Health Officer and served in Indonesia and Jordan. In 1960, he resigned and wrote a book about his experiences, “Foreign Aid: Our Tragic Experiment,” which received excellent reviews. In 1963, he earned an MA in political science from UCLA, then moved to Oregon, where he was a research analyst for the State Library, then taught biology at a community college in Coos Bay, OR. An avid fly fisherman, Tom caught two record-breaking salmon on the Coos River.

In 1970, the Loebers took their Siberian husky, Chatka, on a five-month tour of Europe, about which Tom wrote a second, lighthearted book, “Travels with Chatka.” After a heart attack in 1981, the Loebers moved back to Southern California and Tom became a technical writer for San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant. The Loebers lived in Rancho Bernardo for 17 years and were members of Rancho Bernardo Community Church.

After he retired in 1988, Tom served on the RB Community Council and the San Diego Fish and Wildlife Advisory Commission. He built houses for Habitat for Humanity, coached Little League, and attended Promise Keepers. In 1998, the Loebers moved to Fallbrook, where they resided until Mr. Loeber’s death.

Thomas Loeber is survived by his wife, Rachelle, of Fallbrook, CA; his sister Paula Creasey, Hood River, OR; daughters Lucy Lowry, Edgewood, WA, and Mary Huckstep, Fallbrook, CA; son Thomas Stanton Loeber, Jr., Sunnyvale, CA; step-son Steven Porter, Deerfield, IL; ten grandchildren; and 15 great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at Fallbrook Presbyterian Church on Saturday, Feb. 5, 2005, at 1 p.m., with a reception immediately following. All are welcome to attend. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests making a donation to the Fallbrook Presbyterian Church, Missions Fund, 463 S. Stage Coach Lane, Fallbrook, CA 92028.