Bob Loner left a carefree childhood to go off to a highly structured high school to study to become a priest. After his senior year, he realized the priesthood wasn’t for him and he scrambled to get into a college to avoid the draft. Bob feels very fortunate in this turn of events as he met the love of his life, Mary Kay, got a great education, and was on the crew team at the University of St. Thomas in St.Paul, MN. He also went through the Air Force ROTC program with hopes of flying.
USAF Veteran Bob Loner
Once again there was a change of events. His last physical showed he had 20/25 vision in his left eye which ruled out flight school. Disappointed, he went for what he thought would be the next best thing and got into intelligence. He was sent to Lowry Air Force base where he went through seven months of intell training. Bob and Mary Kay had planned on getting married in the fall of 1970, but realizing that he would be sent to Vietnam, they moved the wedding up to June 6th and recently celebrated 50 years of marriage. Bob shipped out in November 1970 and spent a year in-country. He was in Photo Intelligence with the 12th Tactical Recon Squadron, “Unarmed and Unafraid”, which flew F-4 Phantoms doing photo reconnaissance missions.
After his service, Bob began what has been a very successful and fulfilling real estate career. With his stint at Lowry and after numerous vacations in Colorado, Bob and Mary Kay decided to move to Fort Collins in 1980. They raised their children here, got very involved in the community (Bob is presently on the Veterans Plaza Committee), and he has spent his entire career with The Group. “I’ve been very fortunate to be in this career because I love helping people.”, Bob said.
~ Brad Hoopes is preserving the stories of veterans. For more veterans’ stories visit www.rememberandhonor.com for the recent book, “Reflections of Our Gentle Warriors”