Obituary of Torsten Carl Muhr

Lieutenant Colonel Torsten Carl Ivar Muhr, 94, of Pottersville passed away on 10 December 2023.

Torsten was born in Goteborg, Sweden in 1929, immigrated to America in 1932, and grew up in Chicago during the Great Depression. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant from the University of Illinois United States Air Force (USAF) ROTC program. Torsten served for five years on active duty as a USAF pilot for Strategic Air Command (SAC) and flew missions all over the world from 1954 to 1959 at the height of the Cold War. After his tour on active duty, he continued his military service first as a part-time technician at McGuire Air Force Base and later as a Guardsman in the 177th Fighter Wing of the New Jersey Air National Guard in Atlantic City. He retired from the military as the Commander of the 177th Civil Engineering Squadron in 1982. As a civilian, Torsten worked as a civil engineer in private industry for a decade in New Jersey at Esso in Bayonne from 1960 to 1963 and C F Braun, Co. in Murray Hill from 1963 to 1970. In 1970, he transitioned to the civil service where he worked in the Budget Office of the City of New York as a Senior Civil Engineer for twenty-five years. He retired as the Chief of Public Aid for the City of New York in 1994 (and scored 1 out of over 1,000 city engineers on the proficiency exam that year).

Torsten moved his growing family to Pottersville in 1973 where he lived for the past fifty years. His many hobbies included bird watching, model trains, baking, making chocolates, sipping bourbon, and most importantly spending time with his family, especially, his six grandchildren. After retirement he enjoyed traveling the world with his wife.

Lieutenant Colonel Muhr is survived by the love of his life and wife of sixty years, Mrs. Irene Genevieve Muhr (nee Mackiewicz); son, Mr. Eric Carl Muhr, daughter-in-law, Lisa Ann (nee Rosko), granddaughter, Annelise Emelia, and grandson, Eric Elias of Hampton, New Jersey; son, Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Carl Muhr, daughter-in-law, Loren Anne (nee Savino), granddaughter, Elizabeth Christina, and grandson, Michael Carl, of Ellicott City, Maryland; son, Mr. Glenn Carl Muhr, daughter-in-law, Rosalind Marie (nee Alvarez), and grandsons, Carl Alexander, and Jacob Carl, of Bridgewater, New Jersey; and friends and family including many cousins in Sweden.

Lieutenant Colonel Muhr will be interred at the Brigadier General William C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Wrightstown, New Jersey. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Veterans group of your choice. TEACH US AND LEAD US EVER NEARER TO THEE