Juneau Memorial Service

Jason Ohler came to call Juneau home for the majority of his adult life, though born in East Aurora, New York. He grew up there and left his auspicious and indelible mark on his birth community. His memorial service in Juneau reveals glimpses into the professional academic world he created here and the reach of his profound influence across the digital world.

 

Though professionally anchored to the University of Alaska, it was Jason’s shared house on the hill that grounded him in Juneau.  This special home was a social experiment as well as a nurturing sanctuary for four young men carving out their personal and professional futures. 

 

October 1990, the brainchild of the Divine Order of Enlightened Bachelors took the form of a 1913 Craftsman style home perched atop the city on historic Chicken Ridge. Soon dubbed Budzo Manor in honor of the quartet of bachelors who imagined a common purpose and wanted to harness the value of the social, economic and ecological synergies of convivial community.  

 

Though each gentleman was sufficiently charming, Jason was the first to court Esther MacDonald – elderly owner of the grand home at 313 7th St.  He intended to woo her into selling her home to this brotherhood of dreamers.  Which he did. And she did. And they did. 

 

Budzo Manor became the cradle that nurtured and protected Jason in his metamorphosis from blue collar tradesman to intellectual and visionary giant of this modern media age.  Though he occasionally strayed from Juneau for education, family, then health reasons, Jason claimed Budzo Manor as his home – where he felt centered and at peace. 

 

Over the decades, Jason presided over the Manor’s intellectual bent and social swagger. With the gravitational pull of a massive star, Jason and Terri’s penthouse dining room table attracted dignitaries, scholars, artists, students, friends, neighbors…. and a few scoundrels.  No doubt, many reading these words supped therein. 

 

Ultimately, the four bachelors each married and had families of their own, so the Divine Order of Enlightened Bachelors dissolved, but Budzo Manor abides.

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Epilogue -

Jason’s favorite place at Budzo Manor was the rooftop. Early on he installed a hinged skylight as a doorway to the sky. There, Jason’s unfettered mind soared to infinity and beyond. After he left, we closed the door and had it removed.

 

Jason is gone, but Budzo Manor abides.

 

Lovingly remembered by Clay Good – The Youngest Budzo