Obituary of Robert Emmett McLoughlin

Robert ‘Emmett’ McLoughlin III

 

Emmett “Bucky” McLoughlin was born on December 2nd, 1941, in New York City.  Robert Emmett McLoughlin III, was the first child of parents Lt. Colonel R. Emmett McLoughlin II and Margaret R. McLoughlin, residents of Ft. Monmouth in Long Branch, NJ.  He passed away on July 2, 2019 in Tucson, AZ.  Emmett was 77.

 

Raised in Allenhurst, New Jersey, Emmett was a self-confident youth, who gravitated towards many Leadership roles throughout his life. He graduated from St. Benedicts Prep High School in Newark, NJ, before going on to graduate from Boston College (Bachelor’s Degree Cum Laude in Languages) in 1963.  He served as Commandant of the US Army ROTC program at Boston College before he began his military career. 

 

Emmett married his first wife, Judith Magner in 1963 in Boston, MA.  He then served two years in the US Army Intelligence Corps, stationed at Fort Huachuca in Sierra Vista, Arizona.  He transitioned out of the military in 1968 as a Captain, after three additional years in the Arizona Army National Guard.  While in the National Guard, Emmett received a Master’s Degree in Southwestern US History and Government from the University of Arizona in 1967.  All three of his children were born in Ft. Huachuca, before moving the family to Tucson permanently.

 

He started his business life in the late 1960s working for Proctor & Gamble, then owning Arizona Marketers (a vending machine company), and being involved in many Sales & Marketing associations.  Notably, he was the Tucson Director of the National Alliance of Businessmen, a non-profit focused on jobs for the hard-core disadvantaged.  Model Cities Manpower program, Tucson Jobs for Veterans, and the Urban League were a few of his community involvement efforts.  His civic efforts became the springboard to his political interests. 

 

Politically, he started his career by volunteering in the Barry Goldwater Presidential Campaign in 1964, and he kept contributing for over 30 years.  In 1969, he was the Chairman of the Tucson Republican City Committee, when he managed the successful campaigns of Councilmen Borozan, Castillo and Royal.  In going to “door to door” to introduce himself to almost every household in the neighborhood, he secured his first campaign win in 1971.  Emmett served one term on the Tucson City Council (Ward 4) – December 1971 to December 1975.  Then one term as a member of the Arizona State Legislature (District 14) – January 1977 to January 1979.   Starting in the early 1980s, Emmett volunteered as the Pima County Republican Chairman … for a period of 25+ Years.  One highlight of his political career was being chosen as a delegate to Ronald Reagan’s Presidential Convention in 1980.   Until the end, he was keenly interested in the political scenes … locally in Tucson and Santa Cruz County, as well as nationally and internationally. 

 

As much as Emmett was a leader in the political sense, he was a connector in the Real Estate and Business community of Tucson.  In the early 1980s, Emmett helped to create the current Friday Morning VIP Breakfast Club, a vehicle for Tucson businessmen to network with the other members and their clients beyond. 

 

Over the next 30+ years as a Commercial Real Estate Broker in Tucson, and International Business entrepreneur in Western and Eastern Europe, Emmett found projects that were as interesting as the political challenges he faced!  Being gifted in multiple language skills from his time in college and military experiences, he forged friendships and lasting business relationships in faraway places, like Kazakhstan and the Republic of Georgia. 

 

Starting in the early 1990’s with the Tucson Sister City program, in which Almaty, Kazakhstan was paired with Tucson, Emmett and Ursula, his current wife of 23 years, led many successful projects.  Most notably, they developed a commercial partnership with the Presidential Leadership of Kazakhstan to renovate, take reservations and operate the Hotel Dostyk … the country’s Premier hotel in the capital city.  All of this occurred before the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. 

 

In his last years, he and Ursula worked on projects that would drive economic development into Santa Cruz County.  Splitting time between both Tucson and Sonoita, Emmett and Ursula became very active members of St. Therese’s Catholic Church in Patagonia, AZ.  He was a Liturgy Leader, and occasionally sang the hymns as a Cantor.  Whether abroad in fantastic cities across Europe and Asia … or settled into a good book in peaceful Sonoita … Emmett always found contentment!

 

He is preceded in death by his parents and first wife, Judith, and brother, Kevin J McLoughlin. He is survived by his current wife, Ursula, his children, Robert E McLoughlin IV of San Diego, CA, Michelle McLoughlin and Kathleen Tackett of Tucson, AZ.  He is also survived by his brother Ed McLoughlin of Barrington, IL, sisters Mary Ellen Cahill of Basking Ridge, NJ and Peggy McLoughlin of Tucson, AZ and all their respective families.

 

Emmett was a well loved and admired Husband, Father, Grandfather, Sibling, Friend and Businessman for over fifty years in the Tucson area! 

 

One of Emmett’s favorite Irish Blessings: 

May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face.
And rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

And may you be in Heaven an hour before the Devil knows you’re dead.

 

To our Patriarch and Friend … you will be sorely missed. “God Bless, and Farewell!”

 

There will be a Memorial Mass on Friday, July 12th at 1:30 PM at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, 215 S. Craycroft Rd.  Reception to follow in the Church Hall.  In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the American Cancer Society (https://www.cancer.org/). 

 

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Robert McLoughlin, please visit Tribute Store