Jonathan C. Gehrig

My name is Jonathan C Gehrig. I was born and raised in Oakland California and went to High school at Alhambra high school in Martinez California. I joined the Navy in 1975 and spent 2 years overseas in Yokosuka Japan on board the USS Midway. I was discharged in 1978. When I got out of the Navy, I took a trip up to Grant's Pass Oregon to visit my parents and my sister where they moved to when I was overseas. I found a job at a sawmill in Grants Pass and from there I ended up in Brookings Oregon and worked 21 years at South coast Lumber. I worked in the timber industry for 35 years. It was a fast-paced career. I did everything from cleanup, Millwright, Quality control, Supervisor, and Superintendent. My fiancee Adrienne and myself gave up our careers to move over to Grants Pass to care for my parent's. It was a huge lifestyle change, but the most important decision we ever made. Before my dad passed away, I made a promise to him and my mother that I would write 2 books. One about caring for them and all the experiences we experienced, and also take 3 characters my dad created when myself and my siblings were little, Artie Apple, Barney Banana, and Ozzie Orange peel which I changed to Ozzie Orange, and created a story with those characters and wrote a children's book, "The Watermelon Patch a Tale of Unlikely Friendship". My first book is "A Son's Promise".