C. U. C. p. ALUMNI JOURNAL 



179 



JOHN OEHLER 



John Oehler, one of the best known 

 and most beloved graduates of our col- 

 lege, died suddenly, at'his late residence, 

 Carlstadt, New Jersey, in the early 

 morning of July 14th from heart failure, 

 caused by an attack of acute indiges- 

 tion. 



The news of his death came as great 

 shock to his many friends and associates 

 in both professional and commercial 

 spheres. He had apparently been enjoy- 

 ing excellent health and there was noth- 

 ing to indicate that his demise was so 

 near at hand. 



The deceased was born in the City of 

 New York, at No. 326 West 38th Street, 

 and at the time of his sudden demise 

 was 56 years of age. 



When ten years of age, his parents 

 removed to Carlstadt, and until the time 

 of his death he was a resident of that 

 community. His early education was 

 obtained in the public schools, and was 

 supplemented by instruction obtained 

 through various other sources. At the 

 age of thirteen he became an apprentice 

 in the South Bergen Pharmacy, then 

 owned and conducted by Otto Frank. 

 After having served an apprenticeship 

 to the entire satisfaction of his employer, 

 young Oehler, desirous of obtaining fur- 

 ther knowledge concerning matters con- 

 nected with the profession he had chosen 

 to enter, became a student at the New 

 York College of Pharmacy, in the fall 

 of 1877, ^t the age of eighteen years, 

 and graduated with honors in the spring 

 of 1879. 



How readily such an item of history 

 is recorded in later years, and yet how 



much self sacrifice and self denial is 

 often hidden behind the facts as stated. 

 In these later years a college education 

 is taken as a matter of fact, in many 

 states it is even compulsory for one 

 who wishes to practice pharmacy pro- 

 fessionally. Not so at the time when 

 young Oehler launched his fortunes on 

 the broad waters of a professional edu- 

 cation. It required much determination 

 and force of will and a considerable 

 financial sacrifice to thrust aside the 

 allurement of the short cut to ob- 

 taining a license, namely the pass- 

 ing of a board examination, in those 

 days none too exact or severe an 

 ordeal. To what degree John Oehler 

 possessed the qualities necessary to be- 

 come a thorough professional pharma- 

 cist, is shown by the record of his col- 

 lege career. During the first or junior 

 year of his studies he became especially 

 interested in the study of botany, and 

 his name appears in the 1877- 1878 cata- 

 logue as a special student in that sub- 

 ject. He was very successful in master- 

 ing the subjects of the junior year and 

 after having passed a very creditable 

 examination, was declared eligible to be- 

 come a member of the second year or 

 senior class. During his senior year of 

 studies he again found time to do special 

 work, and we find his name recorded in 

 the 1878-1879 catalogue as a special 

 laboratory student. It may here be 

 stated that in these early days all labora- 

 tory courses, both chemical and pharma- 

 ceutical, were entirely optional. It was 

 only in later years that such courses be- 

 came an integral part of the curriculum 

 of studies. 



