Obituary for John Broesamle

Please click here to read the obituary for OVDF founder, John Broesamle, in PDF format.

 

 

A man of integrity and dignity, John embodied a vanishing American ideal; a committed, inquisitive, and passionate man of letters. He was an intellectual who possessed a rare kindness and wisdom  that only come to those who never lose their love for their fellow human beings. A great thinker who always welcomed new ideas and new friends, he enjoyed company to the fullest, with an uproarious appreciation for any good – or bad – joke. His dedication to the Ojai community was legendary and he brought a stubborn strength and steely determination to protect the valley he loved. 

John Broesamle, 82, beloved husband, father, grandfather, friend, and neighbor, died comfortably at home on June 17, 2023. 

A lifelong outdoorsman, John felt an abiding commitment to do no harm and, in the wilderness where he felt most at home, to leave no trace. The reputation he earned as a “conservation giant” was an understatement. Taking over as President of the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy in 1998, John reshaped it into one of Southern California’s most successful and trusts. During his term as President, the OVLC secured its first acquisition, the 80-acre Ilvento Preserve.

John next led the effort to acquire the two parcels that now comprise the 58-acre Ojai Meadows Preserve; the very acreage for which the OVLC had been founded to preserve. After stepping down in 2000, John returned to the board at the request of Jim Jackson, OVLC’s President and John’s friend of nearly half-a-century. John then helped secure the deal for Cluff Vista Park and the OVLC’s crown jewel, the Ventura River Preserve. During that era, the OVLC protected in excess of 1,700 acres of open space and experienced an unprecedented surge in membership. Even as recently as a month ago, John was working tirelessly to acquire a meaningful piece of open space within the City of Ojai. Jackson described John as “a model for what a board president should be, a model for what a volunteer should be, and a model for what a friend should be.” 

When approached by community leaders a few years later to form an environmental defense fund for the valley, John led a monumental effort to create the Ojai Valley Defense Fund; a community war chest in excess of one million dollars to protect the valley’s environmental well-being against dire threats that appear here on average twice per decade – a uranium strip mine in our watershed, a regional landfill in a pristine canyon, and freeways trisecting the valley, to name a few.

Because he preferred the focus to be on others, John did this work quietly and effectively, but accolades came steadily: Ojai Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year (1999), Ojai Valley Land Conservancy Conservation Award (2001), Rotary Ojai Living Treasure (2001), Environmental Defense Center Lifetime Achievement Award (2003), OVN “Best Volunteer of the Ojai Valley” (2012 and 2013), VC Star’s “25 Over 50” award (2014), Ojai Valley Defense Fund James D. Loebl Award for environmental excellence (2018), Los Padres ForestWatch Wilderness Legacy Award (2019), and Rotary International Paul Harris Fellowship for service above self (2023). When he wasn’t planting saplings with Ojai Trees, you might find him teaching children to read at Topa Topa, San Antonio, and Meiners Oaks Elementary Schools, or removing trash from the Los Padres. 

John is survived by his beloved wife of 60 years, Kathy, children Carolyn and Robert, son-in-law Gil, and grandchildren Aiden, Tyler, and Brady. John met Kathy during one of the college summers they both worked in Yosemite National Park. John grew up in the park. His family was one of the original Tuolumne Meadows’ “old-timers,” a community of teachers who spent entire summers there. He adored Yosemite, where his parents taught him to fly fish, a lifelong calling he fostered in his children and grandchildren. He also saw it as a perfect vehicle for imparting values and ethics; how to kill a fish humanely, to release more than you keep (and always the egg-bearing females), and to stay off the wildflowers at water’s edge. Learning how to tie flies, he believed, taught both patience and artistry. The fly fishing life became the perfect symbol of his lifelong commitment to tread lightly and humanely on our planet. 

As a student John received his M.A. and Ph.D. from Columbia University. He spent his career as Professor of History at California State University, Northridge from 1968-2002, where he invited crowds of students to banter and debate during office hours in a raucous, freewheeling “salon.” Many remained lifelong friends. His professional accolades include a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, President’s Fellow, Woodrow Wilson Dissertation Fellow, Danforth (national teaching excellence) Program Associate, and the CSUN Scholarly Publication Award and Distinguished Teaching Award. 

A prolific and passionate author, John began his tenth book during a five-year remission from inoperable pancreatic cancer, the grim diagnosis he received in 2018. That book, Transforming Paradise: How Franklin D. Roosevelt and Thousands of Unemployed Americans Created Today’s Yosemite National Park, examines the transformative New Deal era in Yosemite. A deeply personal story he thought he’d never get a chance to write, John received a publication offer during his final hospitalization. He remained actively engaged with the manuscript throughout his time in hospice so that family could see it through to print. 

John did not waste a single day of those five years. In addition to researching and writing Transforming Paradise, he helped create OUR OJAI for the Ojai Valley Defense Fund, a book of photographs celebrating the valley. In the weeks leading up to his diagnosis, John, Kathy, and Gil flew to Peru as volunteers with the ORBIS flying eye hospital. Having been blind twice himself, John knew what the gift of sight could mean to the children he met there. Back home he hiked, backpacked, and fly fished. He tied flies with his grandchildren. He participated in political discussions with friends. He celebrated the super blooms. He read, helped others, attended his grandchildren’s athletic and academic events, cooked, and enjoyed the simple things we often take for granted. Maximizing all that life has to offer is the essence of who John was. He often described his last five years as among the best of his life. John had hoped to climb a favorite pass in Yosemite one last time this summer. In the days leading up to his death, he urged all of us – family, friends, and community – to do our favorite things as often as we can. Life is fleeting. 

There are many people to thank, especially Dr. Joshua Rosenberg of UCLA (pictured here with John in the Ventura River Preserve), for whom no words are adequate. Dr. Rosenberg, oncologist and friend, gave John the gift of those five years, going above and beyond the call of duty at every turn, providing world-class care and compassion.

Chemo nurses Priscilla and Theresa, and the entire UCLA community, befriended John and celebrated every victory against a relentless disease. Dr. Robert Buckingham, longtime physician and friend, advocated fiercely for John when the diagnosis came in and thereafter. The team at Livingston Hospice thought of everything to make things easier. Friends and neighbors enriched John’s life immeasurably to the end. Two special people made this obituary the beautiful tribute that it is – Mark Frost, dear friend and fellow writer, who edited John’s work and he his, and Joel MaHarry, graphic designer and new family friend. 

John deeply admired and wrote about naturalist John Muir, who once so fittingly said “the mountains are calling and I must go.” John, they are indeed, but we hate to see you go. 

 

John would have appreciated anyone reading this obituary to do something for the environment. Donate to a favorite cause, pick up trash along a trail, plant a tree, walk rather than drive an errand, and – above all else – find pleasure in every day.