Lohr Family Ties Include Point Park University

The Point
Fall 2013

The year was 1972. Roberta Horn Lohr (COM 1975) decided to major in journalism at Point Park College because she was impressed with the downtown campus and was captivated by the teaching of journalism professor Vincent LaBarbera.

"I was hooked from the minute I met him, and I loved being Downtown," recalled Roberta, who is now senior vice president of marketing at Somerset Trust Company in Somerset, Pa. "The city was our classroom. I have fond memories of all of the journalism faculty, who were very dynamic and very hands-on."

Another life-changing event occurred in her freshman year, when she met her husband-to-be, B. Wayne Lohr (BUS 1976), a business administration student at Point Park. He eventually became an educator and now coordinates state and federal programs for the Ferndale Area School District near Johnstown. The couple raised their family in the small town of Stoystown, Pa.

Fast forward four decades to 2007, when their high-school age daughter Ellen Lohr (A&S '11) was searching for the right college. "We encouraged her to consider Point Park and brought her to campus for a tour," says Roberta. "The growth of the campus is very exciting. So many positive changes have been made. The University was great to work with in terms of providing scholarships and the admissions process."

For Ellen, it was also love at first sight. "The city location was fantastic, so different from the small town where I grew up. Everyone was so welcoming. It was the perfect fit for me." She decided on her major after a friend invited her to a lecture by Professor Robert McInerney. "He blew my mind!" she says. "I decided then and there to make psychology my major, and I asked Bob to be my advisor. I think I took every one of his classes. I would pay to take them again. The entire psychology faculty, including Professor Robert Fessler, who was a teacher when my parents were Point Park students, was just phenomenal."

Now a customer service representative at Somerset Trust, Ellen says "my experience at Point Park taught me how to deal with life in general. I now see the world with a totally different perspective."

Text by Cheryl Valyo
Photo courtesy of the Lohr Family
The Point is a magazine for alumni and friends of Point Park University