John Cory Ahrens ~ Class of 1970

John Ahrens ~ Class of 1970

Departed ~ 8/17/2019

Lovingly written by John’s sister Beth Ahrens Kley, Class of 1971.

The definition of “surreal” is “unreal, unearthly, dreamlike”. John Cory Ahrens passed away on Saturday 8/17, age 67, after a brave fight with a deadly form of brain cancer. A man who only half a year ago on March 1 celebrated mom’s 91st birthday with the family at the Crow’s Nest restaurant with a view of the ocean, is now no longer with us. How can a healthy person now be gone, where one can only see him, touch him now, in the flatness of a photograph, no longer hear his sardonic comments or hike with him through the forests of the Sierras? Who visited mom regularly, laying on her couch with his feet hanging over the side, playing Sinatra on his phone for her which made mom so happy?

He never wavered in the battle, never indulged in self-pity or asked why me. He accepted the fate with heroism, as did the family who helped him get through this ordeal in the comfort of his home. It was a drastically strong downward trajectory, having experienced loss of some mobility and some speech even before surgery, radiation and one round of chemo. His situation seriously degenerated with a bout of seizures. Soon after his wife set up the family home to bring him to a place of comfort. There he had 24 hour care, the decision to stop chemo was made and soon thereafter hospice was brought in.