Obituary of Louis Ahola

Louis Ahola, 37, passed away accidentally on March 4, 2023 while vacationing in Costa Rica with his fiancée and friends.  He was born in Urbana, Illinois on December 3, 1985 to Mark and Debra Ahola.  Their family moved to Niskayuna, New York in 1995. Lou resided in Albany for the past six years.

As a toddler and preschooler, Lou attended Fox Valley Montessori school.  Many people have described Lou as “beyond brilliant” and it showed at this young age.  He loved to solve complex math problems and would often play “math” games on long trips with his parents and chess with his dad.

During his elementary school years, Lou won various chess tournaments in Illinois and New York.  He also pursued other activities/sports at which he would continue to excel throughout life.  Lou got his first video game at age six and still loved playing all night online with his friends. He loved experimenting with instruments of all kinds, and continued making music almost every day and DJing for his friends.  Lou started playing soccer in his youth and played on several different teams over the past 8 years. Through more friends, he joined a softball team and more recently a bowling league. 

After graduating from Niskayuna High School in 2004, Lou received an associate’s degree from SCCC where he enjoyed acting in the drama department.  He then found his niche in computer science and received a bachelor’s degree from Stonybrook University.  Lou landed his first job as a video game developer at Vicarious Visions. Through hard work and determination, he became a senior software engineer for Jahnel Group. 

Louis loved to travel. As a child, he and his parents traveled all over the country and vacations often included hiking, mountain biking and for the past 15 years, scuba diving throughout the Caribbean. During his 20s and 30s, Lou worked hard to be able to travel all over the world to go to music festivals, be with friends and just relax.

Finally, Louis met the love of his life and the women he wanted to marry, Amanda. Everyone, even strangers could see the amount of love they shared and how happy they made each other. Both being family oriented, they were a perfect fit and would spend a lot of their time with their parents traveling or at their favorite place, Lake George. The short years they shared together were filled with pure happiness and love with their dogs.

Louis had the personality and natural charisma to make friends no matter the situation–a reason he had so many.  He held onto friendships from elementary school.  He connected with others through play and work.  His laugh and smile were infectious to everyone around him. He was brilliant, determined and worked very hard at every aspect of his life. As a man of true integrity, Lou was an inspiration to all of us.  He was truly a selfless man whose passing left an unfillable gap in the hearts of his loved ones.  His ability to sacrifice, provide, support, forgive and love will be forever ingrained in our hearts.

Lou is survived by his mother and father (Deb and Mark Ahola), fiancée (Amanda Moffitt), grandmother (Joann Hundt), uncles (Jack and David Ahola), cousins (Jacob and Eric Ahola, Megan Kubera, Kristyn Karasch) and two loving dogs, Quinn and Maverick.  He was predeceased by his grandparents (Jacob and Joyce Ahola) and great aunt (Marilyn Carr).

 Lou lived many lives and knew many people. Those who knew Louis, even just a little, lost a shining light in their lives. 

A memorial service will follow a visitation to be held at Glenville Funeral Home on Saturday, April 8, 2023.

Calling hours will be held on Saturday, April 8, 2023 from 12-pm-3pm at the Glenville Funeral Home, 9 Glenridge Road, Glenville. A memorial service will immediately follow at the funeral home.

Memorial donations in Lou's name may be made to the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society
3 Oakland Avenue Menands, NY 12204. (https://mohawkhumane.org/