According to journalist Tom Brokaw, who devoted a chapter to Lomell in the "Heroes" section of his bestseller "The Greatest Generation," Lomell "was the adopted son of Scandinavian immigrant parents who took him into their family as an infant in Brooklyn."[REF]
Lomell attended Tennessee Wesleyan College, on an athletic scholarship and work program, where he was editor of the school newspaper and president of his fraternity [REF].