John Spencer Forchtner

John was born in Wakonda, South Dakota, and lived in Arlington, Texas, Japan, and Albany, New York, moving with his father’s Air Force deployments. During his high school years in Albany, John received his first Ham Radio from his parents, which began his lifelong hobby of communicating with people from all around the world over amateur radio. His family eventually settled in California, and John graduated from Fresno State University, where he played clarinet with the marching band.

After college, John moved down to Southern California where he began his 35-year teaching career at Hueneme High School. He primarily taught Chemistry and was also the Science Department Chairman for many years. John married Inge Kuehn within a year after they met on a blind date in 1971. The couple moved to Camarillo, California, where John grew a thriving backyard vegetable garden, and he and Inge served fellowship snacks after the weekly worship service at United Methodist Church of Camarillo. John was an avid baseball fan (Go Dodgers!) and for 6 years was the easygoing assistant coach of his daughter, Erika’s, softball team.

Following his retirement, John enjoyed weekly lunch meetups with a group of former teachers and friends, the self-proclaimed ROMEO group (Retired Old Men Eating Out.) Inge also gently coaxed John to take several vacations in their retirement. Some of their favorite trips include Kauai, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, an Alaskan cruise, and a train trip across Canada.

In 2008, the birth of John and Inge’s first grandchild led them to move across the country to Jacksonville, Florida. John and Inge hosted “Grandma and Grandpa Camp” during the summers, where John would teach science lessons to his growing number of grandchildren. John also loved going out to lunch almost daily with Inge, and rarely missed the opportunity to have a big bowl of vanilla bean ice cream with her in the evening.

John was preceded in death by his parents, Frank and Florence Forchtner, and his sister, Connie Watson. He is survived by his wife, Inge Forchtner, daughter Erika Conner (Andrew), and grandchildren, Kaleigh, William, Lidia and Spencer Conner.

A visitation to honor and celebrate John Forchtner’s life will be held on Saturday, February 1, 2025, from 2:00-4:00 pm at Hardage-Giddens Chapel Hills in Jacksonville, Florida. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations are welcome at Arlington Community Services (www.acsjax.com).

A celebration of life for John will be held Saturday, February 1, 2025 from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM at Hardage-Giddens Chapel Hills Funeral Home, 850 St Johns Bluff Road North, Jacksonville, FL 32225.