Lou Ann Bohman

Lou Ann Bohman ObituaryObituary published on Legacy.com by McCrery & Harra Funeral Home and Crematory - Concord Pike on Mar. 17, 2026.Lou Ann Sheldon Bohman died on March 11, 2026, in Wilmington, Delaware, after a lengthy struggle with Alzheimer's disease. Born in Marshall, Texas, in 1936 to Herb and Lucy Sheldon, she lived in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas, as a child, graduating from high school in Caney, Kansas. She attended college at Kansas State and Wayne State Universities and met her husband, Eric, in Michigan. Lou and Eric married in 1968 and moved to New Haven, Connecticut, in 1970 while Eric pursued a PhD. She subsequently finished two Masters degrees. They put down roots, living there until Eric died in 2021.Lou Ann worked in education for more than 40 years; she was a High school English teacher in three states and then moved into school administration. Lou served as a middle school gifted teacher and administrator of the Co-op High School, and by retirement was a vice-principal, chair of the English and History Departments at Wilbur Cross High School, and co-head of English curriculum for the City of New Haven Public Schools. At Wilbur Cross she was instrumental in implementing small learning communities, visionary educational programs that allowed students more focused interactions with small groups of teachers. She also facilitated the training of those teachers. Her professional life was marked by many lasting friendships with both faculty and students. In 1975 she was one of 90 teachers jailed when the teacher's union went on strike to demand better pay and labor law changes and refused a judge's "back to work" order. Professionally, Lou Ann was a mentor and an advocate for underrepresented voices of women, people of color, and LGBT authors. In retirement, she volunteered, both at Camp Amerikids (a camp for children affected/infected by HIV or suffering from sickle cell disease) and at Creative Arts Workshop (where she helped run the annual arts sale to fund programming).Lou Ann had a great capacity to see beauty in the world and people around her. She was patient, kind, and generous. She was a fiercely loyal friend, and many of those friends supported her and her family through Eric's long battle with cancer and her own with dementia. An ardent reader, Lou Ann loved both poetry and prose, and the writing of Virginia Woolf most of all. She enjoyed visual art, theater, film, and music. Happy in her garden, making art, baking, listening to music, walking, and taking in the beauty of birds and plants, Lou enjoyed working with her hands and time outdoors. She and Eric loved food, cooking, and sharing their table with friends. They particularly loved the food and culture of Tuscany, where they traveled several times together.She is survived by her son, Leif, daughter-in-law, Erika, and two grandchildren, Annika and Lars. In lieu of flowers please consider a donation to The New Haven Scholarship Fund (https://www.newhavenscholarshipfund.org/how-to-donate). We are establishing an endowed scholarship in her honor for New Haven high school students with financial need. If you donate by check, you can earmark it to her memory.For online condolences visit: www.mccreyandharra.comTo plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.