Loren Floto was devoted to service
Floto taught at Hononegah and served on the Talcott Library board.
Loren Floto, a former trustee of the Talcott Free Library board, died on June 14, 2025.
According to a profile he wrote for us, he served his country for three years as a Peace Corps volunteer as a young man, working in forestry in the Dominican Republic and Chile in March 1966, five years after Peace Corps was founded. A graduate of Geneseo High School, he earned a masters of science in forestry and biology at University of Missouri-Columbia in 1965. Later he went back to school at Western Illinois University in 1973-1974, studying elementary education.
He had a 26-year bilingual teaching career in Harlem, Hononegah, and Rockford. For ten years he led the Rock River Sweep with Tricia Davey, an event to clean up some of the river banks between South Beloit and Roscoe. He was a weekly volunteer helping to restore native species at Nygren Wetlands.
He and his wife Jan, whom he married in 1971 at Hononegah Forest Preserve, moved to Rockton in 1977, and raised their four children in the Rockton and Hononegah schools. He was a volunteer at JustGoods Fair Trade Marketplace for several years.
Floto first served as Talcott Free Library trustee in the 1980s. He served as secretary of the board before losing his bid for reelection in April 2025. He was proud of the board's achievements, including a 2019 tax referendum which allowed the library to expand in 2021.
Gary Kovanda, current Talcott Library President, thanked Loren for his admirable service as a library trustee, noting that it was a pleasure to serve alongside him. Both Gary and Loren served as secretary, but Gary reflected that “his (Loren’s) minutes were much better than mine.” Mr. Kovanda added that “more importantly, Loren was a very thoughtful, conscientious, and really nice man.”
Floto noted that the library also added "three private study rooms, a children’s area, a teen area, the Keefer program room and a dumbwaiter for safe transfer of materials to and from the basement." He added, "During my time on the board, we adopted a no-fines policy which has served our patrons well. Talcott is truly a great resource for all of Rockton and a vital defender of free speech and access to information."
Loren actively served as one of the main organizers of the Rockford/Rock River Valley Returned Peace Corps group. This group would often meet at JustGoods Fair Marketplace in Rockford, with former Peace Corps volunteers coming from South Beloit to Dixon to share their experiences and dinner. The group, with Loren at the lead, recently met for again after an almost two year hiatus in May 2025. Group members shared how much they appreciated his efforts to bring the group together and his advocacy for Peace Corps.
Loren also dabbled in poetry. He attended and recited his own poem at Inkwell Books' (Rockton) first poetry open mic night on May 29, 2025.
Floto reciting one of his two poems from that night, "A Man I Never Knew"
He is survived by his wife Jan Floto and daughters Aimee Floto, Ellen Diaz, and Betsy Kornelis. He was preceded in death by his son Roland Floto, his parents Ernest Floto and Helen (Withrow) Floto-Terpening, and his brother William Floto.
The Rockford/Rock River Valley Returned Peace Corps Volunteers are holding a get together on July 7 or 8 from 6-8 pm at Pig Minds Brewery in Loves Park in his honor. Any returned Peace Corps volunteers interested in attending can take a survey at the link below to let the group know which date works better for them and contact Adam Neblock or Bob Schlehuber at adam.neblock@gmail or bobschlehuber@gmail.com for more information.
Survey Link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PTJCHBQ
