NORTH MANKATO — Retired industrial arts teacher Allen Mohr was said to have saved “a lot of kids from the scrap pile,” according to a former student.
He knew not everybody would go from high school to college. His outlook was, “But then you need to learn to work with your hands because you have two of them,” said his son Tim Mohr.
“He influenced a tremendous amount of people,” said a fellow industrial arts teacher Alan Kunz. “I think his students who he had over the years really appreciated what he did for them. And I know he shared himself, that’s all I can say. He made a great influence on a lot of people’s lives.”
Mohr, of North Mankato, died on July 29 at age 92.
He was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis on Jan. 20 and his health had since suffered. He’d been in hospice for the last months leading up to his death.
Mohr taught industrial arts for more than 50 years at Minnesota schools, including at the Vocational College in North Mankato and at Loyola High School in Mankato. He retired in 2007 at age 75.
Loyola graduate Tom Peterson said he didn’t get to know his own dad until he was in his 20s. Instead, he sought out male role models “and Al was one of them. And I wasn’t the only one. I noticed Al had a lot of friendships with people who were students. He was a moral compass for everybody.”
Safety was first in Mohr’s industrial arts classroom, Peterson said. Mohr was also a pioneer during his teaching career when it came to meeting standards.
“You had to take his instruction at the standard and high level he was instructing at to be successful in his class,” said Tom Schueneman, another Loyola grad. “He had high standards and expectations in his classes. That was motivated by safety because of the nature of the class and coursework. You had to understand what you were doing.”
Jon Schneider said he was the type of student who “raised hell in classes, but not in Al’s. I knew what I wanted to do in life. I knew it was going to be something mechanical. So I paid attention.”
Schneider was so impacted by Mohr’s influence that he went on in 1982 to start his own car repair business, Carriage Repair in Madison Lake. He retired a few months ago.
“He was just a great guy, that’s all I can say,” Schneider said. “He was sharp until the end.”
Teaching was Mohr’s chief passion, wife Judy said, but he also enjoyed other pursuits such as rebuilding antique cars, fixing outboard motors, restoring gas pumps, attending swap meets and playing the concertina. He was known as his neighborhood’s Mr. Fix It guy.
Tim said there was a Post-it note on his dad’s desk outlining how he wanted to be remembered. That was as a good husband, good father and as an inspiring educator.
“He definitely accomplished those in spades,” said daughter Darcy Erickson.
In addition to influencing his students, Mohr also impacted his children to enter selfless professions. “Explain to me why four of your kids went into law enforcement,” Peterson said he asked Mohr.
“Part of our upbringing was being respectful and having a good moral compass,” Tim said. “What’s right and what’s wrong. He did a lot of other service stuff when he wasn’t teaching.”
Mohr is survived by his wife of 65 years and children, Tim, Sandy Howe, Bill Mohr, Darcy Erickson and Todd Mohr, and seven grandkids.