Back

James 'Gordon' Otterstrom--Mid 1950s

Father of James Steven Otterstrom. "He was known as Gordon to his parents and siblings, but to the rest of the world he was Jim, or in my case, dad. My father had juvenile onset diabetes and took 3 insulin shots every day to control it. Dad worked many different jobs in his life including; municipal bus driver in Santa Monica, California; operator of Pacific Electric's Red Car Trolleys; proprietor of a small egg ranch in the San Fernando Valley; bakery delivery driver for 'Golden Crust Bakery'; manager of gas stations and drug stores. Life was a series of extreme up & downs for my dad--many problems were of his own creation--yet he had innumerable passions; fishing, boating, and so many different crafts & hobbies at which he was quite proficient; bamboo 'ocean fishing pole' design & construction, leather tooling, gardening, jewelry making, lapidary work, woodworking, stamp collecting, model railroading, and speedboat racing come to mind. And yes, he was known to be tempermental, somewhat extravagant at the expense of his family, and a womanizer--which eventually cost him his marriage. But my father was also energetic, outgoing, & friendly. I admired him, as more often than not, he included me in what he was doing, and his creativity inspired me... Dad died from diabetic related problems when I was 15--in February of 1961--he was 36 years old." Jim

Back