John Wagers' Obituary
Born March 5, 1919 at home on a farm near Shickley, NE.
Attended district 59 country elementary school.
John graduated from Shickley High School in 1936 and attended Nebraska Wesleyan University on a Methodist scholarship for one year after which he taught in a one room country school in rural Nebraska for 2 years.
John earned a degree in Chemistry from the University of Nebraska graduating in 1942. He was hired by Shell Oil as a research chemist and hitch hiked to the Oakland/ Berkeley area of California to work on a Military project during World War II. He received a deferment from the draft due to his work on shell coatings. He has many fond memories of living Mrs. Kerrs boarding house along with other shell employees.
He left shell in 1950 for an opportunity to build houses. In 1951 he built his first house on a lot in Richmond Heights. He continued to build numerous houses in the Montcair area including one on Bywood Street.
John was married to Willemina on July 16, 1954 in Berkeley, California. Their marriage would last until November 1967.
In 1959 he built Silvergate Apartments, a twenty-four unit building on the corner of Claremont Ave. and Martin St, in Oakland which he continued to actively manage on a daily basis. He and Melza also built a house near Roses Spain.
He is passionate about recycling and zero waste, insisting that his tenants recycle, reuse and compost everything. John was passionate about being green before green was the buz word.
John was a passionate community activist involved in numerous causes. He found Ayala Park and Racine Point Park for which he received a commendation from the City of Oakland. John spent many hours tending to their up-keep.
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