Lore was born in Munich, Germany on September 19^th, 1930, of Walter and Marta Strich. Her family moved twice in the 1930’s, first to Florence, Italy in order to avoid persecution by the rising Nazi regime and subsequently to Cambridge, England where they established permanent residency and where Lore completed her primary and secondary schooling at The Perse School for Girls.

Lore had a keen interest in art and a love of photography. Following high school, she moved to London to pursue the study of art history, completing an associate’s degree at the University of London at the end of 1950. She subsequently worked as head of the photographic department at a London art studio and then at The Courtauld, where she was responsible for taking, and developing, photographs of works of art. This employment came to an end in November of 1956, when she married Conrad Schirokauer. Conrad’s family had also been in Florence in the 1930’s and had emigrated to the United States. In 1955, Conrad was required to serve in the military and was stationed in Paris. Over his first Christmas holiday, he visited the Strich family in Cambridge, and it was not long before Lore and Conrad were engaged. Following their wedding, they lived in Paris, various locations in the U.S. dictated by Conrad’s work as a graduate student and then professor, and finally Englewood, New Jersey. Their Englewood house was chosen quickly during a weekend visit and remained their home for 56 years. 

Lore and Conrad’s first place of residence in the U.S. was Palo Alto, California, where David was born in 1959. Oliver followed in 1962 soon after the family had arrived in New Jersey. Lore’s primary focus for the ensuing two decades was the family’s home life, most of which unfolded in New Jersey, some of which took place in Kyoto, Japan, where the family lived for three years between 1967 and 1972. Lore’s artistic passions and talent blossomed in Japan. In addition to her photography, she applied herself early on to the study of calligraphy, receiving recognition of her work at several exhibitions. Later, she joined a weekly class on paper folding and cutting given by a venerable master teacher and became enthralled by paper as an artistic medium. Back in the states, in the mid-1970s, she began a new venture as a paper artist, designing cards that were sold at multiple venues in the New York metropolitan area. One of these was the gift shop at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, where she started working after David and Oliver left for college, at first helping with ordering and stocking merchandise and eventually serving as a buyer and floor manager. The Cathedral, however, was more than a workplace for Lore. She became close friends with many of the shop’s staff, sang in the choir, participated in events such as the St. Francis blessing of the animals, and most notably, each Christmas climbed a 40-foot scaffold in order to decorate a tree with hundreds and hundreds of paper cranes that she had folded. Unfortunately, in 2001, her work at the Cathedral ended abruptly when a major fire destroyed the gift shop.

Lore and Conrad’s travels were not restricted to their long stays in Japan. On two occasions, with young children in tow, they took multi-month trips through Asia. These journeys allowed Lore to create many remarkable images of sights and people using the medium format Rolliflex and 35mm Lica that she toted across the continent. Trips without children and with lighter cameras continued into the 2010’s, including to the Amazon, Central America, India, China, and many of the National Parks that David worked at. Lore especially loved spending time in Alaska. She made a final trip there at the age of 90 and was rewarded with an unclouded view of Denali and the spotting of several bears. Her passion for Alaska was a reflection of a deep interest and concern for wildlife, wilderness, and the environment that became increasingly prominent later in her life. This focus was also evident in her artwork. Her later pieces were not cards but instead were much larger scenes of nature inspired both by the subject matter and by the Japanese paper that she used to create the works. 

Lore passed away peacefully with her children at her side. She will be remembered for her profound dedication to family, friends, and colleagues, for her eagerness to collaborate and willingness to compromise, for her artistic eye and joyful smile, and for her relentless fight to maintain a meaningful connection to the world when faced with Alzheimer’s disease.

Lore is survived by her son David and wife Dawn Adams, her son Oliver and partner Monica Gerrek, her grandchildren Leo, Somiya, and Sierra, her brother-in-law John Goodell, and many family, friends, and caregivers. She was preceded in death by her husband Conrad, her mother Marta and father Walter, her sisters Beata and Sabina, her granddaughter Kestra, and her sister-in-law Annette Schirokauer.

Memorial donations may be made to the Flat Rock Brook Nature Association (https://www.flatrockbrook.org/) or to The Nature Conservancy (https://www.nature.org/en-us/).