Born in Carlinville, Illinois, Loehr moved to Chicago in 1886 and briefly attended Lake Forest College before embarking on a career as a mining engineer.
His office was located in Room 711 of the Unity Building on North Dearborn Street in the Chicago Loop, where he made many acquaintances, including Paul P. Harris, an attorney.
The other three men shared Harris' enthusiasm for the idea, and agreed to meet again two weeks later, when they would bring other friends.
Prior to the Unity Building's demolition in 1989, Rotarians painstakingly removed all fixtures from Loehr's old office and placed them in storage.
"Gustave Loehr: Rotary's Forgotten Founder" by Tom Emery (Carlinville, Ill.: History in Print, 2003).