NEWS

MEET A BOARD MEMBER: JOHN OHLSON

Who hikes 7 miles to 11,000 ft., speaks Swedish, Spanish, French and some Mandarin, earned a Masters at Northwestern University, and worked toward a PhD at Stanford? Who walks precincts during elections, volunteers at the Yolo County Fair, serves as a docent at the West Sacramento Historical Society Museum and Visitor's Center, commutes by bus to study at Sacramento City College, creates ephemera for the Sacramento Book Collectors Club and practices tai chi? Well, one of our members does all of this and more and is only 90 years old. Imagine what this person will do at 110! Who, you ask, is this amazing person? Meet John Ohlson, living a full life, and approaching each day with great humor and a positive attitude.

John was born in Connecticut on June 21, 1915 and grew up in a bilingual household where Swedish was spoken. He is the oldest of three children along with sister, Alice and brother, Carl. He attended North Park Junior College in Chicago and then graduated from Northwestern University in 1936 and then attended Stanford University from 1937 to 1938. While still a graduate student, he purchased a 1924 Hudson, which had to be cranked to start. Its cost--$15! In 1939 John moved to Sacramento and for thirty years, he worked for the State of California as a Clinical Psychologist.

In 1940, he met Grace Ohlson, a Phi Beta Kappa graduate from his rival school, the University of California, Berkeley. He was working for the Personnel Board, and she worked at the State Board of Equalization. John's roommates, both co-workers who had graduated from Cal Berkeley, suggested he meet her. Another colleague arranged a luncheon and invited them both. John was impressed with her and said, "She was shy and not talkative, but she sure overcame this after living in West Sacramento a year or two." They married in 1945 and had two children: Britta, called Mary B. and Nils. They were married for 55 years until her death in 2000. She was a champion of community college education, which she pursued as a member of the Los Rios Community College District Board of Trustees. Prior to that, she was a member of the Washington Unified School District Board. Currently, John helps provide funding for the Grace Ohlson Scholarship Foundation for River City High School, which enables students to attend Sacramento City College or another community college in the area.

He has lived in the same house for 54 years. He and Grace purchased the home with numerous trees and eventually had some removed, "but the place still looks like the Ohlson National Forest" John quips.

In 1952 he began a tradition: once a year, he would take his family to Tuolumne Meadows, and later they would go to Tioga Pass for a vacation and climbing. When he was younger - in his 60s and 70s - he and Grace would climb five to seven miles up to over 11,000 feet, but he said he's slowing down and only climbed a half mile to over 10,000 feet this year stating "I'm not the boy I used to be."

For exercise, John goes to the Broderick Senior Center and takes T'ai Chi Ch'uan (commonly called tai chi) which is an ancient Chinese form of classical exercises for health and self-defense. He says "There are a lot of young people there in their 50's, 60's and 70's."

John has been involved with the Sacramento Book Collectors Club for 25 years and the Book Club of California. He creates printed mementos/annual keepsakes for the local club. "I'm a bookaholic - I read books. I buy books!" He has also been active in the Yolo Democratic Central Committee for 47 years and is a founding member of the West Sacramento Democratic Club, serving for 40 years. Also ongoing, he is a volunteer at the Discovery Museum in Sacramento, dressing as a pressman working on an antique printing press. He also serves on the Yolo County Archives Board. To top it all off, he is a devoted volunteer and Member of the Board for the West Sacramento Historical Society.

In 2003 at the age of 88 years, John took a printing class at Sacramento City College taking public transportation. He got the Senior rate of 60 cents one-way to 7th and J Streets and then transferred to a city bus to get to the school. He states, "When you get to be my age, you get a city bus pass and it costs ZERO!" He has a Life Time pass for Sacramento Regional Transit.

When asked what is his secret for a long life, he responded in one word: "Luck." When pressed further he said his maternal grandmother lived to be 95 years old and said "Maybe it runs in the family." His children asked him to take Vitamins C and E, so he does "to please them." He eats oatmeal with cold milk for breakfast and often has a glass of red wine at suppertime.

John is an advocate for education and the arts and never says anything negative about anyone. The City of West Sacramento gave him a West Sacramento Mayor's Proclamation honoring him on his 90th birthday which partly reads "Now, Therefore be It proclaimed by the Mayor the of City of West Sacramento that John Ohlson is hereby recognized and honored for his significant contributions to the community of West Sacramento. Activism is alive and well! Thank you and Happy Birthday!"

The California Legislature Assembly presented a Resolution to John from the Honorable Lois Wolk, 8th Assembly District and Honorable Michael J. Machado, 5th Senatorial District, which partly reads "Resolved by Assembly Member Lois Wolk and Senator Michael J. Machado, that John Ohlson be congratulated upon the celebration of his ninetieth birthday, commended for his unparalleled record of civic leadership and philanthropy, and conveyed best wishes for continued success in the future."

The writer of this article read the story to John for accuracy and at the end he said "Now I know what a flapjack feels like when it gets all that maple syrup." Don 't you agree John Ohlson is an inspiration to us all? When you think you can't do something, think of John and I'm sure you'll change your mind and forge ahead.