Obituary of Jean Mahlan Wahler

Jean Mahlan Wahler 5/10/1922 - 8/4/2011 Jean Wahler passed peacefully at age 89 after a 7-year battle with Alzheimer's disease. Jean spent her younger days in a row boat "scapping" for crabs in the Great South Bay off Long Island. At age 8 after school one day she and a friend visited a circus that was setting up in her neighborhood. Circus personnel gave her the opportunity to dress in thick sheepskin chaps and ride a pony around the ring. As she passed by a lion's cage, the great cat grabbed her by the thigh and pinned her against the cage. The rest of her days she bore scars from the lion's claws. At age 14 she crossed the US alone by train from New York to Carson City, NV, to join her mother in rescuing a hundred year old ranch at the base of Slide Mountain in Washoe Valley. Against her mother's directive, she secretly trained a mustang mare, Pocahontas, which became her companion for 20 years riding the Nevada wilderness. During WWII the family moved to Riverside, CA. She met her husband, William Wahler, when he rented a studio at the family's farm. He was a handsome young pilot who had flown missions over Germany and provided air support for the D-Day invasion. Three months later they were engaged, marrying on April 3, 1948. The next year Daddy Bill was assigned to fly goods in the Berlin Airlift. So, 2 weeks before son Willie was born, she flew to Germany to join him in Hanover. Willie had 3 birth certificates: British hospital, German soil, American parents. The family moved on to Athens when the allies occupied Greece. There a daughter, Linda, was born. Bob, the youngest, was born in Albuquerque, NM. The family spent 4 amazing years at a 16-acre farm in Dayton, OH, with a 100-year old barn where Jean produced amazing special effects for Halloween parties. After Bill's retirement from the Air Force in 1961, the family settled in Santa Cruz. He fell ill with leukemia 6 years later at the age of 49 and died after a month's hospitalization at Fort Ord. At his funeral, a family friend mentioned hearing of a connection between leukemia and radiation exposure. He had flown planes through atomic bomb clouds in the early 1950's. For the next 3 years, Jean pursued the issue tirelessly, writing the noted scientists, including Linus Pauling, and others at the Minsk Institute in the Soviet Union. She petitioned the Atomic Energy Commission to consider his death service-connected. On her third attempt, she made national headlines when the commission agreed that her claim was justified. They say you can't fight city hall. She fought the US Government, and won. During subsequent years she often counseled former servicemen and widows with similar claims. Jean spent her later years renovating beautiful country properties in the Santa Cruz area. She enjoyed building trails in Happy Valley, the Zayante area and in local parks. She never stopped contributing and was constantly on hand to help with whatever needed doing. An avid square dancer and bridge player, she remained active and involved with community action until Alzheimer's took her vitality. Her greatest love remained trail riding and caring for her family, her pets and her precious pasture grass. The very same night she passed away, her grey mare that she had rescued 25 years ago had to be euthanized. As Rosalinda at Lakeview Lodge put it, "She must have needed something to ride." A remembrance will be held a 2pm on Sunday, Sept. 11, at 168 Olympia Station Road in Felton. Contributions can be made to the Alzheimer's Association, the Santa Cruz County Horsemen's Association, or the charity of your choice.