Erich was born on August 8, 1939, in Beshka, Yugoslavia (now Serbia), to Heinrich and Elisabeth (née Betsch) Eisenloeffel. They were part of a large ethnic German-speaking Protestant community in that region of Europe. In 1945 when the entire village was forced to flee from advancing troops near the end of WWII, Erich, his mother and his younger sister Hertha boarded a refugee train to an unknown destination. After many days with little food and at least one plane attack, they finally ended up in Zittau in eastern Germany, where Erich started school. Erich’s father had been imprisoned in a labor camp in mines in Yugoslavia; when he was released in 1949, the family reunited, settling in a village on the Danube River near the town of Tulln in Lower Austria. Erich grew up there, after mandatory school he attended a technical college in Vienna to study Engineering.
In 1961 Erich married Johanna Kunesch, a girl whom he had known since childhood. Erich’s parents had long planned to emigrate to the United States, following a call to his family members by their cousin, Jakob Kinkel, who had founded the North American Knitting Company in Mansfield. Erich and Johanna arrived in Mansfield in 1961, joining many members of Erich’s extended family. Daughter Karen was born a few months after they arrived, in 1964 Erich’s parents joined them from Austria, in 1965 son Thomas Erich was born.
Erich and Johanna were very active church members, initially at the German-language St. Peters Evangelical Lutheran Church, where Erich was a member of the Church Council. In 1980 they joined Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, where he also served in the Church Council for several years and on the Property Committee until his death. Erich and Johanna were also members of the Liederkranz.
Erich’s first job in Mansfield was as a machine-operator at the “Knitting Mill”. In 1964 he started at the City of Mansfield Engineering Department where he served for 38 years, after several additional years of consulting work, he finally retired in 2009. He designed many public improvements and prepared approvals for many building development projects in Mansfield. Erich earned his Ohio Surveyor’s License in 1975. He served on the Richland County Planning Commission for many years. His knowledge of Mansfield’s building and infrastructure history was extensive, and he liked to share it - he loved his adopted hometown.
Erich and Johanna enjoyed travelling - especially to Europe to visit family in Austria and Germany. Many cruises with their son and daughter-in-law’s family and trips to California to visit Erich’s sister kept their schedules full, especially after they retired. They both had a passion for gardening, keeping the yard in beautiful shape and growing vegetables every year.
Erich was preceded in death by his parents and his wife Johanna, her sisters Karin Jell and Viktoria Raab. He is survived by his daughter Karen and her partner Justus Pysall of Berlin, Germany, his son Thomas and wife Carla (née Hail) of Dublin, Ohio, and Carla’s brother Gregory L. Hail and husband Matthew J. Culler of Akron. His sister Hertha McNeilly and husband Kenneth and nephew Mark Hittinger and family survive him in San Diego, California. Nieces Stephanie (Wolfgang) Scharf and family and Silvia Jell and family live in Austria.
The family would like to express heartfelt thanks and deep appreciation to the staff at the ICU at OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital, who attended caringly to Erich and his family in his last few days.
Friends are invited to join the family for visitation Sunday, June 8, 2025, from 3:00 PM until 5:00 PM at Wappner Funeral Directors 98 South Diamond Street, Mansfield, Ohio. A funeral service will be held Monday, June 9, 2025, at 10:00 AM at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church 525 West Cook Road, Mansfield, Ohio with Pastor Katherine Pennington officiating.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions in Erich’s memory to Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 535 W. Cook Rd., Mansfield, Ohio 44907.
Wappner Funeral Directors-Mansfield is honored to serve the Eisenloffel family.
