Horst Herbert Lonitz

Horst Herbert Lonitz Obituary Horst Herbert Lonitz, age 104, resident at The Glebe, Daleville, Virginia and previously a longtime resident of Salem, Virginia, passed away on Saturday, September 7, 2024. He was born November 1, 1919, in Chemnitz, Germany. He was the only child born to Rosa and Herbert Lonitz. As a youth, he studied decorative painting as well as advanced architectural and technical courses at what is now the University of Chemnitz. He would be called to serve in the then compulsory German civil service and was subsequently reassigned to the Luftwaffe with the outbreak of WWII. One of his military assignments would take him to Munich, where he would meet his future wife, Olga. After their marriage on October 9, 1943, he returned to Chemnitz where they had two children, Rosmarie and Klaus-Dietmar. He did not support Hitler's war effort and orchestrated a discharge from military service just 3 days prior to the official end of the war. With the Russians taking over East Germany, he was subscripted to work in the Russian run uranium mines. He carefully forged a plan to escape to West Germany. The escape would be conducted separately, he would escape and head to West Berlin, while Olga would escape to Munich with her two children. By late 1949, he was able to rejoin them in Munich. In Munich he found work with Linhof, a camera manufacturer, where he rose to the position of department head. Aspiring for greater opportunity and a more secure life, he decided to leave Germany. In November of 1956, Horst and his family would start a new life in the United States. The immigration process would take him to Austinville, Virginia, a small rural town with many of its residents living in poverty. A search for a better employment would take him to Salem, Virginia in February of 1957 where he found work at Salem Boats, a division of Graham-White Manufacturing Co. However, the company divested itself of the boat business. Horst remained with the company, acquiring new skills, becoming a patternmaker and machinist. He developed new metal molding techniques, product prototypes and ultimately rose to the position of plant superintendent by 1974. He retired from Graham-White in 1986. After retiring, he and Olga traveled the world extensively, making trips throughout the United States, Europe, Egypt, Japan and China. When not traveling, both he and Olga would pursue their hobbies such as painting, pottery and gardening. He was preceded in death by Olga, his wife of 72 years. Horst is survived by his daughter, Rosi Martin of Chesapeake; his son Klaus (Ted) Lonitz and his wife, Pam of Roanoke; two grandsons: Bryan Zentz of Portland, Oregon, and Charles Dudley, Sr. and his wife Kimberly of Daleville, Virginia; and one great grandson, C.J. Dudley of Bloomington, Indiana. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Alzheimer's Association (www.alzfdn.org/cwva). A Memorial Service will be held at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, September 17, 2024, in the Chapel at the John M Oakey & Son Funeral Home in Salem. Online condolences may be expressed to the Lonitz family by visiting www.johnmoakey.com.