Juanita "Nita" B. Lohse

Nita will be remembered by all who knew and loved her as relaxed, easy going, and fun to be around. She loved people, she made each person feel special in her company. Strangers were drawn to her wherever she went. Many of her friendships were lifelong.

Juanita “Nita” Bertha Mook was born to Anna Mae Walsh and Elmer Dewey Mook December 21, 1924. While the family lived in Billings, Montana, they traveled to Vermillion, South Dakota for her birth, assisted by members of her father’s family, namely the Fisher’s and Jamison’s. Nita was quickly nicknamed “Tootsie” by her grandfather which stuck until she married. She and her only sibling, James “Jimmy” Dewey Mook, were raised during the depression, so possessions were not plentiful but it was a loving family and their stomachs were always full. In spite of their father losing his right arm in a factory accident, Elmer was a superb gardener/rancher and managed to provide more food than the family ever needed. “Huge” strawberries were his specialty.

Shortly after high school while working as a ration clerk at Mouat Chromium Mine in the Absaroka Mountains in Montana, she fell in love and married the mine supervisor, Loyal James Lohse in 1943. Loyal was a mining engineer. He was also a blasting specialist. They had only one daughter, Donna Mae. They enjoyed 63 wonderful years of marriage until Loyal passed in 2006.

Following WWII, Nita assisted Loyal in running Lohse Construction Company for 15 years around Minot, North Dakota. The heavy equipment, earth-moving company built roads, dams, drainage ditches and tunnels. The family lived in a tiny trailer they pulled to each job site. There was no running water, plumbing or electricity. Nearby well-water had to be pumped into barrels and carried to the trailer daily. Propane tanks provided cooking fuel. Kerosene lanterns were used. In the summer, Loyal and several hired men would work from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., maximizing the far north daylight. Nita would prepare and serve 6 meals a day to the hard working, hungry workers. She would have to heat water on the stove to wash dishes. Food was chilled in an ‘icebox’. She would drive to the nearest town to procure ice from the ‘ice house’ every couple days. In winter months, Loyal would use his heavy equipment to cut huge blocks of ice from rivers and lakes and sell the ice to the Great Northern Railroad to refrigerate rail cars. When Donna turned 7, the family rented a house in the town of Minot so she could go to school.

After being severely injured by a drunk driver, Loyal sold his company and moved the family to the Carlsbad/Oceanside area in 1959. His resulting arthritis could no longer tolerate the harsh North Dakota winters. Nita embraced her new community. She was very social, joining womens’ clubs, playing bridge and taking college classes. She became a successful Real Estate Broker specializing in large land transactions around southern California.

Following Loyal’s retirement from the City of Oceanside Engineering Department, Nita and Loyal traveled the world extensively for 15 years or more. They traveled with Loyal’s siblings, their grandchildren, or friends they had made along the way. They often entertained these same friends at their home in Oceanside. When Loyal could no longer travel, Nita traveled with her daughter, exploring family history, new places and finding long lost relatives. She became an avid reader. Nita even enjoyed learning to make jewelry and traveling with her daughter to craft fairs for a few years during Donna’s post-retirement. Mother and daughter had such fun, laughing and traveling. She made friends everywhere she went.

Nita passed at 89 years old, 7 weeks before her 90th birthday, from complications following hip replacement surgery. She had been so hopeful for a life with less pain. She had renewed her driver’s license the day before surgery and gotten new glasses. She fought courageously and rallied several times during her 5 week hospitalization, but she became too weary to fight the last bout of pneumonia. She was in a beautiful hospital room with a huge window overlooking the Pacific. She was holding her daughter’s hand when she let go; a harpist was playing in her room.

Nita is survived by her daughter Donna Lohse Rosenstock (companion Rodney Gould) of Carlsbad; granddaughter Laura Rosenstock Cooley (husband William Cooley) of Carlsbad; grandson Todd Loyal Rose (wife Amanda Rose) of Sebastopol, CA; great granddaughter Taylor Robyn Embs of Carlsbad; former son-in-law Kenneth Embs of Escondido; great grandsons Julian Loyal Rose and Marlon Ronald Rose of Sebastopol; and numerous nieces and nephews. Aside from her parents, preceding her in death was her brother, James Dewey Mook, and former son-in-law, Steven Earl Rosenstock.

Nita was laid to rest at Eternal Hills Memorial Park in Oceanside Friday, November 14, 2014. A Celebration of Life service was held the next day at the First Presbyterian Church in Oceanside Saturday, November 15. Pastor Tim Beal presided over both services. Music was provided by organist Steve Vandlen and harpist Geri Afshari. Geri was the harpist who had played in her hospital room when she passed.

She will be deeply missed by so many. She had a good life. She managed to live in her own home and drive her own car right to the end. And now she rests with Loyal, the love of her life.