Obituary of John Addison Mohler

John Addison Mohler Jr died Saturday evening, December 28th, in Tucson, Arizona. He was in hospice care for end-stage Parkinson's disease. His funeral services will be held on January 10 at Catalina Lutheran Church (11 AM Mountain Standard Time). John's life was not unlike that of the character Forrest Gump, in that he'd met many famous and influential people during his life. He was full of little anecdotes that surprised family and friends. He was born in Washington, D.C. in 1936 to John Addison Mohler Sr. and Virginia Quackenbush. He was very proud of his Mohler heritage with the family in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia; particularly of their stewardship of the Grand Caverns near Grottoes, Virginia. His mother's family was in Connecticut and John had fond memories of summers in Vermont and at Lake Placid, NY. John's maternal grandmother lived at the Plaza Hotel in New York City and indulged him with trips to many fine music performances. He remembered seeing Rachmaninoff in concert at Carnegie Hall and enjoyed seasons at the New York Metropolitan Opera, the Philharmonic and on Broadway. John teased his children that their table manners would appall the maître d'hôtel at the Plaza. During his college years he volunteered as a supernumerary at the Met, carrying spears or banners or cloaks. He enjoyed lots of banter in the wings with prominent singers, and once struck up a friendship at a pub with another regular who turned out to be W.H. Auden. John's mother brought him to Arizona on several trips when she explored the West, and he loved visiting Tombstone. Forty-five years later his children were astonished to discover a photograph of the famed Hanging Tree that John had taken at age 8 or 9 mounted in the Tombstone Vigilante Hall. John attended middle and high school at Brooks School in Massachusetts and earned a degree in linguistics at Brown University. From childhood he was active in Christian churches and honed his understanding by reading great Christian authors. He served four years in the United States Air Force and thoroughly enjoyed his duty in Germany and France in the late 1950s. The training in radio technology he underwent in the military confirmed his boyhood fascination with audio systems and gave him the skills to later work in radio at KHEP in Phoenix and various radio stations in Sierra Vista, Arizona. He loved telling the story of receiving a radio transmission from a colonel whose voice was familiar: that of Jimmy Stewart. He met his first wife Barbara Billingsley at the famed Stork Club in New York City, and enjoyed many an evening at that establishment. Although it was frequented by Hollywood and New York celebrities, his favorite anecdotes were of a conversation that he had with well-known mobster, and of the time the Duke of Windsor taught him how to tie a Windsor knot. The couple moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, following John's desire to be out West. They had two children and divorced six years later. John worked in banking and radio and diversified his portfolio by purchasing a painting by R. Brownell McGrew. He met the artist's daughter Rebecca and married her in 1970. They enjoyed 49 years of happy marriage. John and Becky moved to Tombstone, Arizona in 1980 while he worked various jobs without joy or success. Remarkably, at age 54 he found his true vocation in prison work. He served as a Corrections Programs Officer and loved the work of helping men develop and seek success after incarceration. He taught college courses with Cochise College and at the Correctional Officer Training Academy. He and Becky both volunteered with Prison Ministries, and he retired after more than twenty years with the Arizona Department of Corrections. The Mohlers lived in Tombstone until 2012, attending church at Hope Lutheran in Bisbee, Arizona. John is survived by his wife Becky, and seven children: Sherman Mohler (Eeke) of Gilbert, AZ; Ginger Mohler Black of Sierra Vista, AZ; Olga Ryan (John) of Tucson, AZ; J. Addison Mohler (Kelli) of Tyner, KY; Jacob Mohler (Allison) of Sahuarita, AZ; Lily Sullivan (Mike) of Jackson, WY; Abraham Mohler (Rachel) of St. Louis, MO. There are 19 grandchildren.