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Happy to stay put: Jim Ogle has traveled the world
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| H&N photo by Lee Juillerat Jim Ogle takes a peek out from the ranch bunkhouse that’s now used by grandchildren. |
January 8, 2007
LAKEVIEW - Jim Ogle has lived in Chicago, New York and Corvallis.
He's spent time in Hawaii, the Marshall Islands and lived aboard a minesweeper that cruised the Pacific Ocean while serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II.
Ogle has traveled the world. But 82 years after he was born in his family home near Lakeview, he's happily settled close to his birth place.
“I've moved 60 feet in my life, which isn't very far,” says Ogle, who lives just a stone's throw from the house where he was born and raised.
Family moved from Nebraska
Ogle's life began Dec. 12, 1924, the son of C.W. and Nellie Powell Ogle. Both moved to Lake County from Nebraska as children with their families in 1908.
His mother was a teacher while his father, Clarence - “He didn't like that name so everyone called him C.W.” - had to quit school and take various jobs to help his family. After being injured at the ZX Ranch, he finished high school and later became the register for the U.S. Land Office in 1934 until 1948, served as a county commissioner for 12 years and county judge for another nine years until his death in 1969.
The Ogle family raised sheep, cattle and dairy cows on their 120 acres in the New Idaho area west of Lakeview.
“They had big plans,” Ogle says of the Depression era dairy, explaining the money supplemented the annual payments when sheep or cattle were sold. “That's where people made their money in the wintertime so they could get cash and get by.”
Like most families, the Ogles were mostly self-sufficient with gardens, livestock and chickens.
“We raised a big garden,” he says. “We had to deliver eggs when I was a kid, which I didn't like to do.”
The old chicken house sits outside, not far from some now towering cottonwood trees he planted as a first-grade student 77 years ago.
Jim graduated from Lakeview High in 1942 and, with financial help from the Daly Fund, Lake County's fabled scholarship program created by Dr. Bernard Daly, went to Oregon State University.
He was only 17, but he volunteered for the Navy. After finishing the school year at Corvallis, he went to officer training programs at Purdue in Indiana and Columbia and Cornell in New York before being assigned to a yard minesweeper, the YMS 294.
“Truman dropped the bomb so we didn't have to invade Japan,” he remembers, referring to President Harry Truman's controversial decision to drop two nuclear bombs on Japan, ending World War II. “That didn't hurt the feelings of any of us.”
After the war, YMS 294 traveled the South Pacific clearing Japanese mines from channels and atolls. When discharged in Panama, he was the ship's commanding officer.
Ogle returned to Lakeview in 1947 and finished at Corvallis, earning a degree in agricultural engineering. On April 11, 1948 he married Dorothy Withers, who had been raised in the Paisley area and graduated from OSU with a degree in home economics.
“I knew who she was and she knew who I was,” Ogle says of their growing-up years.
He restarted the dairy, named C.W. Ogle & Son Dairy, which had 75 Holsteins. The milk was sent to Lakeview Creamery for bottling and Lakeview Maid Cheese and Ice Cream - “about the best in the country,” he insists.
When he left Lakeview for college and the Navy, Ogle didn't expect to return.
“I didn't think much of Lake County when I left,” he admits. “But after I saw New York and Chicago it looked pretty good to me.”
Over the past 60 years Ogle has been involved in his community. He spent four years as a Lake County commissioner - “That's the only job I ever had.”
He's long been active with the county Democrat Party Central Committee - “Democrats used to be the majority. Now you're kind of a maverick” - is a past Lake County Chamber of Commerce president, was involved in 4-H, was the county's First Citizen in 1975, chaired the county's 1976 Centennial Celebration and in recent years has been a leader for the Lake County Historical Society.
With Bob and Norma Lund, Ogle is preparing a Lake County history book he hopes will be published this year. Although the county boasts some celebrated historians, including storytellers like Bob Barry and Reub Long and long-time Lake County Examiner editor Les Shaw, no comprehensive history has been written.
“The research takes the time. Writing doesn't take that long. You want to be sure it's well documented,” he says.
Ogle not only documents and writes about Lake County's history, he's also an active player and observer.
“Lakeview was a small town then and will probably always be. It used to be you could go to town and buy anything you wanted. We used to never lock the house, but now we do.”
The Ogle house is across the street from the Thomas Creek Grange. At one time the county had 10 active Grange halls. Now there are three.
When not working on the county history, Ogle enjoys time with his family. He and Dorothy have three daughters, two in the Portland area and one in Medford.
“What I've enjoyed most are my grandkids,” says Ogle, showing off a bunkhouse that's been converted to rooms for their visits. “They come every summer.”
His early life involved some extensive travels, but since 1947 he's been happy to stay put.
“It's good for people to look around,” Ogle believes. “They'll never he happy if the feel like they're stuck with the place where they grew up.”
- Lee Juillerat
LAKEVIEW - Jim Ogle has lived in Chicago, New York and Corvallis.
He's spent time in Hawaii, the Marshall Islands and lived aboard a minesweeper that cruised the Pacific Ocean while serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II.
Ogle has traveled the world. But 82 years after he was born in his family home near Lakeview, he's happily settled close to his birth place.
“I've moved 60 feet in my life, which isn't very far,” says Ogle, who lives just a stone's throw from the house where he was born and raised.
Family moved from Nebraska
Ogle's life began Dec. 12, 1924, the son of C.W. and Nellie Powell Ogle. Both moved to Lake County from Nebraska as children with their families in 1908.
His mother was a teacher while his father, Clarence - “He didn't like that name so everyone called him C.W.” - had to quit school and take various jobs to help his family. After being injured at the ZX Ranch, he finished high school and later became the register for the U.S. Land Office in 1934 until 1948, served as a county commissioner for 12 years and county judge for another nine years until his death in 1969.
The Ogle family raised sheep, cattle and dairy cows on their 120 acres in the New Idaho area west of Lakeview.
“They had big plans,” Ogle says of the Depression era dairy, explaining the money supplemented the annual payments when sheep or cattle were sold. “That's where people made their money in the wintertime so they could get cash and get by.”
Like most families, the Ogles were mostly self-sufficient with gardens, livestock and chickens.
“We raised a big garden,” he says. “We had to deliver eggs when I was a kid, which I didn't like to do.”
The old chicken house sits outside, not far from some now towering cottonwood trees he planted as a first-grade student 77 years ago.
Jim graduated from Lakeview High in 1942 and, with financial help from the Daly Fund, Lake County's fabled scholarship program created by Dr. Bernard Daly, went to Oregon State University.
He was only 17, but he volunteered for the Navy. After finishing the school year at Corvallis, he went to officer training programs at Purdue in Indiana and Columbia and Cornell in New York before being assigned to a yard minesweeper, the YMS 294.
“Truman dropped the bomb so we didn't have to invade Japan,” he remembers, referring to President Harry Truman's controversial decision to drop two nuclear bombs on Japan, ending World War II. “That didn't hurt the feelings of any of us.”
After the war, YMS 294 traveled the South Pacific clearing Japanese mines from channels and atolls. When discharged in Panama, he was the ship's commanding officer.
Ogle returned to Lakeview in 1947 and finished at Corvallis, earning a degree in agricultural engineering. On April 11, 1948 he married Dorothy Withers, who had been raised in the Paisley area and graduated from OSU with a degree in home economics.
“I knew who she was and she knew who I was,” Ogle says of their growing-up years.
He restarted the dairy, named C.W. Ogle & Son Dairy, which had 75 Holsteins. The milk was sent to Lakeview Creamery for bottling and Lakeview Maid Cheese and Ice Cream - “about the best in the country,” he insists.
When he left Lakeview for college and the Navy, Ogle didn't expect to return.
“I didn't think much of Lake County when I left,” he admits. “But after I saw New York and Chicago it looked pretty good to me.”
Over the past 60 years Ogle has been involved in his community. He spent four years as a Lake County commissioner - “That's the only job I ever had.”
He's long been active with the county Democrat Party Central Committee - “Democrats used to be the majority. Now you're kind of a maverick” - is a past Lake County Chamber of Commerce president, was involved in 4-H, was the county's First Citizen in 1975, chaired the county's 1976 Centennial Celebration and in recent years has been a leader for the Lake County Historical Society.
With Bob and Norma Lund, Ogle is preparing a Lake County history book he hopes will be published this year. Although the county boasts some celebrated historians, including storytellers like Bob Barry and Reub Long and long-time Lake County Examiner editor Les Shaw, no comprehensive history has been written.
“The research takes the time. Writing doesn't take that long. You want to be sure it's well documented,” he says.
Ogle not only documents and writes about Lake County's history, he's also an active player and observer.
“Lakeview was a small town then and will probably always be. It used to be you could go to town and buy anything you wanted. We used to never lock the house, but now we do.”
The Ogle house is across the street from the Thomas Creek Grange. At one time the county had 10 active Grange halls. Now there are three.
When not working on the county history, Ogle enjoys time with his family. He and Dorothy have three daughters, two in the Portland area and one in Medford.
“What I've enjoyed most are my grandkids,” says Ogle, showing off a bunkhouse that's been converted to rooms for their visits. “They come every summer.”
His early life involved some extensive travels, but since 1947 he's been happy to stay put.
“It's good for people to look around,” Ogle believes. “They'll never he happy if the feel like they're stuck with the place where they grew up.”
- Lee Juillerat
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| Lake County gala on Jan. 20 |
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phillip wrote on Feb 1, 2009 1:43 AM:
" I'm looking for 100+ acreas of land with anual running water, stream, etc, with tree's, as forested as posible, am going to build a cabin for me to retire, thank you. "
Stephanie Patterson Southwell wrote on Oct 4, 2008 6:19 PM:
" I came across this article and find it very interesting. My grandad was the "Southwell" in Southwell & Stilwell :) My dad and uncles were raised in Klamath Falls until they moved to the Portland area. "
Margaret wrote on Apr 29, 2008 11:19 AM:
" It appears the two negative reader comments are associated with the wrong article, as they do not seem to relate. It's unfortunate they are appearing after reading such a nice article about this concert. "
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skii v. wrote on Jun 26, 2009 12:51 AM: