Luther Kuhlman Jr.

FRANKLIN - Luther “Lou” W. Kuhlman, Jr., 79, passed away Saturday, March 19, 2022. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Luther and Evelyn Kuhlman. The family moved to Levittown, Long Island, where Lou attended elementary school and graduated from Division Avenue High School class of 1960.

Lou served in the U.S. Navy for seven years on the nuclear submarine USS Skip-jack. Following his nuclear engineering education, he became a training supervisor at Shippingport Nuclear Station and later a shift supervisor at the Beaver Valley Nuclear Unit. His career as a test and start-up engineer took him to Catalytic Engineering in Philadelphia; Salem Nuclear Generating Station; River Bend Nuclear Pro-ject; Shorham Nuclear Generating Station; and Palo Verde Nuclear Station under the Arizona Nuclear Power Project. He retired to the mountains of North Carolina where he designed and built his own home. Lou started a business, Special Places, where he designed and built small structures and home additions.

Those passing before him included his parents; sisters, Eileen Shroyer and Deborah Downey; daughters, Lisa Kuhlman and Laura Ferrin; several aunts, uncles and cousins; and two special Border Collie buddies, Molly and Dundee.

Lou is survived by his wife, Kathy; brother, Ronald (Sue) of Long Island, New York; sister, Mary Moos of Rhode Island; granddaughters, Dr. Tara Van Bommel (Jeremy) of Portland, Oregon, and Melissa Ferrin of Tampa, Florida; grandson, Michael Kuhlman, of Denver, Colorado; brother-in-law, John Shroyer, of Lexington, Missouri; and several nieces and nephews.

A celebration of life will be held at the Fellowship Hall of Hickory Knoll United Methodist Church, Saturday, May 14 at 2 p.m.

Memorial donations can be made to Hickory Knoll United Methodist Church, 86 East Hickory Knoll Rd., Franklin, NC.