Viola Luehmann, formerly of Rockroyal, New York, passed away peacefully on January 10, 2018 in Venice Florida at the age of 96.

She was born Viola Aldridge on August 2, 1921 to William and Augusta (Winterhalter) Aldridge in Hackensack, New Jersey, and was the second child with three brothers and one sister. She graduated from Hackensack High School in 1939, where one of her classmates was Gene Saks, a renowned actor and director known for The Odd Couple and Deconstructing Harry, and who was married to Bea Arthur. Around this time she met a young man named William H. Luehmann who had been driving around in a 1933 V-12 Auburn that he had resurrected from a local junkyard. On January 28, 1942 they were married in Hackensack, and would be together for 42 years until his death in 1984.

During World War II Vi worked as an operator for Bell Telephone in Bergen County, New Jersey while Dad was in training with the 6th Armored Division of the U.S. Army and in combat in Europe. Following his return in 1945 they operated a delicatessen in New Jersey for a short time, but relocated to Mormon Hollow Road in Rockroyal, New York in 1947, seeking peace and quiet and a respite from city life. Here they would raise their family and undertake an ambitious series of construction projects inspired by Dad's visions, and completed with the hard work they both invested.

Life in Rockroyal required many sacrifices, and Mom had to be very adept at stretching the dollars. On just one machinist/shop foreman's salary, she and Dad built four houses, constructed a 30+ acre lake between Mormon Hollow Road and Ferris Dean Road which was ultimately sold to Pam Dawber (of Mork and Mindy), and put their two kids through college. In addition to managing the family finances, Mom was a consummate housekeeper and an excellent cook. She did everything from baking pies and cakes to making pizza from scratch on Sundays, baking Dad's favorite German Christmas bread, schnitzbrot, and bottling homemade root beer in the summer. On many occasions during the 1950's she would walk down our dirt road to purchase a gallon of milk (50 cents) from Pete and Fran Webb's farm and walk back to pasteurize it on the stove. In her spare time she knit, crocheted, sewed and was an avid reader. She was also not afraid of physical labor. When a large delivery of cinder blocks was made for one of the housebuilding projects she was right there with us unloading the truck and piling up those blocks, one or two at a time. In addition, she handled the finances of Rockroyal's District #4 one-room schoolhouse by serving as the trustee.

When her children graduated from college in the 1970's and moved on, she went back to work for ten years as the principal's secretary at Walton High School where she was well-liked by the staff and students. Several years after Dad died in 1984, she moved to southwest Florida. There she resided in Port Charlotte at Riverwood Golf and Country Club, and in North Port at Bobcat Trail and Heron Creek Golf and Country Club.

In Florida she met a widower from Ontario named Wally Hughson. They became close companions and were together for over 20 years until his death in 2009. Life with Wally was more focused on recreation and leisure activities which were lacking in her earlier years in Rockroyal. They traveled the world together on many occasions, spent summers on Georgian Bay in Canada, and did a lot of ballroom dancing. Mom also learned to play golf, a new activity that she enjoyed immensely and became an excellent golfer.

Following Wally's death, Mom was approaching 90 and decided to move into a senior living facility, Village on the Isle, in Venice Florida. She resided there until 2017, when she moved to the Brookdale Memory Care facility in Venice. She is survived by a daughter, Sandy Boccagna (Peter) of North Port, FL, a son, Bill Luehmann (Cheryl) of Boulder Creek CA, many nieces and nephews, and Wally's daughter and son-in-law, Kathy and Joell Voorzanger of Midland, Ontario. Mom will be greatly missed. We are hoping that she is with Dad right now in that Auburn with the wind blowing through her hair.

Family and friends are invited to call on Wednesday, April 25, 2018 from 2 to 4PM and 6 to 8PM at Courtney Funeral Home, 25 Townsend Street, Walton. Funeral Services will be held privately at the conveinence of the family. Burial will be in the Walton Cemetery.