George Milton Ochs^{[1, 2]}

1923 - 2010  (87 years)

• Name	George Milton Ochs
  Born	26 Mar 1923	Forest Park, Cook County, Illinois
  Gender	Male
  Address	Address: 1141 Hus Dr Watertown, WI 53098-3257
  Census	1930	Oak Park, Cook County, Illinois   [3]
  Phone	(920) 261-5063
  Died	17 Aug 2010	Marquardt Memorial Manor, Watertown, Wisconsin   [4, 5]
  Buried	Moravian Cemetery, Watertown, Dodge County, Wisconsin   [6]
  Person ID	I178618	Smoky Mountain Ancestral Quest
  Last Modified	30 May 2012

  
  

  Father	Fred John Ochs,   b. 12 Jan 1881, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois ,   d. 26 Sep 1954  (Age 73 years)
  Mother	Anna Paulina Hurter,   b. 30 May 1880, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois ,   d. 9 Jun 1955  (Age 75 years)
  Married	26 Apr 1905
  Family ID	F67746	Group Sheet

  
  

  Family	Marjorie A. Cross,   b. 27 Jun 1926,   d. 26 Jun 2000  (Age 73 years)
  Married	8 Aug 1962
  Family ID	F68084	Group Sheet

  
  

• Event Map		Census - 1930 - Oak Park, Cook County, Illinois  = Link to Google Maps   = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Notes

  ROA remembers the forgotten war - Korea - Reserve Officers Association of the United States remembers Korean War, 1950-1953 Officer, The, March, 2002 by Carol A. Kelly Capt George M. Ochs, USAF (Ret.), of Gainesville, Fla., was attending the University of Michigan when the Korean War broke out. He was recalled to McChord AFB, Wash., to serve as navigator assigned to the 62nd Troop Carrier Squadron. He tells the following story: Our mission was to fly personnel and equipment to Japan via Alaska, and we returned that way or through Hawaii, depending on the needs. When I was sent to Japan, I was with the 61st Troop Carrier Squadron stationed at Ashiya AFB, Japan. As space in and out of Korea was critical, I became a member of Traffic Movement Control (TMC), which monitored the movement of the C-54 in and out of Korea. The most critical time was when the Chinese entered the war. The advance base was called K-47. This was an enlarged section of road above the 38th Parallel. To land, you came in over a mountain and made a dive for the runway. In taking off, about 30 seconds off the runway, you were over the front line. To the left, there was a 3,000-foot mountain. For six weeks, it was touch and go if the lines could hold. The squadron flew about 60 missions a day with the squadron's planes (three or four flights of four aircraft per flight). Each plane was loaded with 18,000 pounds of ammunition. We had to schedule so that the first plane was over K-47 at daybreak. Planes were scheduled five minutes apart. As the plane landed, the Marines were waiting to unload them. One was at the front, another parked and unloading, and the third loaded with ammo was off to the front. This was kept up all day, the last plane off at dusk. We used to wonder if the ammo that we had just offloaded was being fired when we took off. To put it mildly, the crews were really stretched thin. At TMC, we had two lists: one, of the pilots who drank, and the other of those who did not. If the first pilot was a drinker, the sober co-pilot was with him. The same was true the other way around. To the squadron's credit during these six weeks, we never lost a man or a plane or a cargo, and we sure as hell had great respect for the Marines. Ochs was an associate professor of history at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh until his retirement. He was very active in the national Democratic Party and was involved with a variety of charitable organizations. He received his undergraduate degree at Grinnell College in `1949, his M.A. from the University of Michigan (1951), and his Ph.D. at the University of Illinois (1960). Drafted Jan 1943 Graduated Army Air Corp as 2nd Lt (Navigator) Jan 1945 Served with 7th Air Sea Rescue Service on Okinawa Released from active service June 1946 Graduated Grinnel College 1949 MA U of Michigan 1950 Navigator for 62nd Troop Carrier ---------- Reference: George M. Ochs, 27 May 2005

  
  

• Sources

  [S142] Newspaper Article, Chicago Tribune, 27 Sep 1954. Fred J. Ochs obituary [S142] Newspaper Article, Watertown Daily Times (www.wdtimes.com), 12 Mar 2005. Ochs returns to his roots in Watertown By Teresa Stowell of the Daily Times staff George Ochs, 81, grew up in Chicago, Ill., entered the U.S. Air Force, traveled throughout the world and now lives where his ancestors first settled. Today George calls Hus Apartments home and lives on the same land that his ancestors harvested grapes for wine, the Marquardt family farm. Christian George Marquardt and his wife, George's great-grandparents, made their way to Watertown from their homeland of northern Germany in the 1840s. "Back then Watertown was the last jumping off point until you hit wilderness," George said. With money they brought from Germany the two built the first three-story building in Watertown, now located on the South West corner of Fourth and Main Street and made their home above the store. "The settlers traveling out to Minnesota needed supplies and that's what my great-grandfather was there for," George said. "When there began to be a large number of tourists traveling to Minnesota he decided he needed to start selling wine, so he bought the farm." There were no bridges at that time, so the Marquardt's crossed the river by ferry to their 40-acre vineyard to make wine. George said all was going well for the Marquardt's until their three children living in the small apartment above the store, grew and became too loud. He said his great-grandfather decided to build a house out on the farm above the wine cellar. The Marquardt home, today is house number 1159 and is located off of North Fourth Street, can often be spotted from the road for its unique stone-built structure. The home is now owned by Bob and Barbara Schaefer. "Those walls are four-feet thick and are all large field stones. My great-grandfather went out into the field and collected all of those stones to build a wine cellar where they'd stomp the grapes and make wine," he said. "The house was more of an afterthought, and it was built for easy access to the barn, the river and the cellar." George's great-grandparents went on to have nine children with his grandmother Anna being the first born child. The Marquardt's were highly active with the Moravian church and helped to found it in Watertown. After the Civil War when President Lincoln asked churches throughout the country to take in veterans who needed nursing back to health, the Marquardt's embraced Fredrich Ochs. Fredrich was with the Union army under General Sherman when he was captured by the Confederates and sent to Andersonville prison in Georgia. "Andersonville is notorious," George said. "That place was a death chamber." Some how Fredrich survived the prison and came to live with the Marquardt's and soon after fell in love with Anna. Anna and Fredrich married and moved to Chicago, Ill., where Fredrich worked as a lamplighter. The two had six children and four grandchildren, one of whom was George. George grew up in Oak Park, near Chicago but World War II broke out and just out of high school he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force. Being a navigator in the Air Force engulfed his life for many years. Flying a B17 with a 29-foot boat underneath, George would fly in after the B24 bombers and follow them back to base. Because the B24's had a shorter flight range, if a pilot would run out of gas and end up in the sea, George's crew would drop a boat in the ocean. The boat carried food for 30 days, motor, rope and a tracking radio. When the pilot would send a distress signal, a submarine could track the pilot and pick up the crew. "There were seven squadrons in the Pacific and in my whole time in the war I never had to buy a beer," George said. "The other pilots would see us navigators and say, hey get these guys a beer they're the ones watching out for us and saving lives." His travels through life eventually brought him back to Watertown in 1964 after earning his bachelor's, masters and doctorate. He was a professor at the University of Oshkosh while looking after the family farm for his uncle Dr. Milton Ochs. Dr. Milton Ochs had inherited that farm and when he grew older he donated that farm to the Moravian church and the family home to George. George later sold the home and now lives in an apartment just down the street in Marquardt village. As he relaxes in his quiet apartment he often looks out the window envisions fields full of grape vines and his great-grandfather's journey to the U.S. Today, Marquardt Village, part of Riverside Park and many other homes stand on what was once the 40-acre vineyard farm. The only visible clue to the history of the Marquardt family, is located at 1159 N. Fourth Street. Driving by the historic home is only a hint of how one of the first families to settle in Watertown lived. Marquardt family photos, paintings, furniture and other historical items can be seen at the Octagon House in Watertown and other museums throughout the state. Ochs returns to his roots in Watertown [S112] Census, 1930. Name: George M Ochs Event: Census Event Date: 1930 Event Place: Oak Park, Cook, Illinois Gender: Male Age: 7 Marital Status: Single Race: White Birthplace: Illinois Estimated Birth Year: 1923 Immigration Year: Relationship to Head of Household: Son Father's Birthplace: Illinois Mother's Birthplace: Illinois Enumeration District Number: 2268 Family Number: 43 Sheet Number and Letter: 2B Line Number: 61 NARA Publication: T626, roll 505 Film Number: 2340240 Digital Folder Number: 4584586 Image Number: 00172 Household Gender Age Birthplace Head Fred Ochs M 50 Illinois Wife Anna Ochs F 49 Illinois Son Fred Ochs M 16 Illinois Daughter Anna M Ochs F 13 Illinois Son Arthur E Ochs M 10 Wisconsin Son George M Ochs M 7 Illinois [S1] U. S. Social Security Death Index, 342-16-6649. Issued in Illinois, residing in Watertown, Dodge County, Wisconsin [S142] Newspaper Article, Watertown Daily Times (WI), 10 Aug 2010. George M. Ochs, 87, of Watertown, passed away Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2010, at Marquardt Memorial Manor in Watertown. A memorial service will be held on Sunday at 2 p.m. in Bethany Chapel at Marquardt Memorial Manor with the Rev. Dr. Rick Brewer and the Rev. Barbara Berg of Watertown Moravian Church officiating. Burial will be held at a later date in Watertown Moravian Cemetery. A visitation will be held in the chapel on Sunday from 1:30 p.m. until the time of the service. Memorials may be directed to Marquardt Memorial Manor. George was born in Forest Park, Ill., on March 26, 1923, son of Fred J. and Anna (Hurter) Ochs. He married the former Marjorie A. Cross in Oneonta, N.Y., on Aug. 8, 1962. She preceded him in death on June 26, 2000. George graduated from Oak Park High School in Illinois and received a bachelor's degree from Grinnell College in Iowa. He holds a master's degree from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. He was a navigator in the United States Air Force during World War II and the Korean War. George was a college history professor at New York State University in Oneonta and the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. He was a member of the Watertown Moravian Church, the Reserve Officer Association and the Nature Conservancy. He is survived by three nieces and three nephews. George was also preceded in death by his parents; a sister, A. Marie Jobst; and two brothers, Fred Ochs and Arthur E. Ochs. Hafemeister Funeral Home 611 E. Main St. Watertown [S147] Find a Grave, (Memorial: 7723768).