James Oehring

Longtime local resident James C. Oehring died Sunday, November 2, at age 94. He was born in 1931 to L. Sidney and Marjory Oehring and had an older brother, Thomas, and a younger brother, Gerald, both of whom died before him. Jim's father worked for General Motors, and the family moved so often that the three brothers were all born in different states. Jim attended five different grade schools before the family finally settled in Park Ridge, a suburb of Chicago, where he graduated from Maine Township High School. He moved to Tucson for a while and then returned to Chicago, where he worked for an accounting firm until he was drafted into the US Army in 1952. Most of his military service was at Ladd AFB (now Fort Wainwright), where he was the first white enlisted man to serve in what may have been the last all-Black unit in the army, only four years after Harry Truman promised to integrate the military services.
After being discharged in 1954, Jim studied accounting at the University of Illinois. He had been in contact with the Alaska Employment Security Commission, which recommended that he pass the CPA exam before returning to Alaska to seek employment. He took the exam in Illinois and left for Fairbanks in a brand-new 1959 American Motors Rambler, with no offer of a job and no idea whether he would find one. He arrived in September 1959 and walked into Ray Kohler's office to ask for work, telling Ray he thought he had passed the CPA exam. This later turned out to be true, and Ray hired him.
In Illinois, Jim had been dating Joanne Schorum, and they had an understanding that she would join him in Fairbanks the following summer and they would be married. She decided to move in December instead, leaving Jim just a few days to make wedding arrangements. They were married in Immaculate Conception Church. Jim had only had his job about three months and didn't feel entitled to any time off, so they honeymooned in Nenana, where he was sent for a work project.
Jim worked for Ray Kohler for 4 years, then for UAF for 11 years at the Geophysical Institute and the comptroller's office. After that, he started a private accounting practice. He and Joanne bought a house on Cloud Road and raised five children there.
Jim was active for many years in the Pioneers of Alaska, which he joined in 1983. He was also a member of the Sourdough Club, the VFW, and the American Legion. He was interested in endurance sports and competed as a long-distance runner, running the Equinox Marathon several times. He also competed in cycling and cross-country ski races. He had a large Quonset hut garage where he worked on cars, home repairs, and other projects. For example, he built a rowboat that his children used for years on the slough that ran through the property and a pond that formed in a dip in the yard every spring when the snow melted.
Jim was a polymath who read widely and kept a library of reference books-including an almanac, a dictionary, and a full set of encyclopedias-next to his chair so that he could research any question that occurred to him. He was notable for his intellectual curiosity and progressive politics, and he participated in Democratic Party caucuses and conventions. He was also a serious animal lover who never met a dog or cat he didn't like.
He is survived by four children, eight grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. Joanne and their youngest daughter died before him. There are currently no plans for a memorial service.
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