Michael Ohlfest

Mount Vernon High School

Class of 1972

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Michael Ohlfest - Class of 1972 - Mount Vernon High School

First Name	Michael
Last Name	Ohlfest
Graduation Year	Class of 1972
Gender	Male
City	N/A
State/Province	VA
Country	United States
Occupation	U.S. Army Civilian
Married	Yes
Favorite School Memory	Rebuilding V8 engine in shop class.
About Me	I spent four years going to Kirkwood CC part time and doing light mechanical work for my father at his service station in Cedar Rapids. Those were special and carefree times that I will always cherish. In 1977 I began an association with the U.S. Army which would span about 4 decades. Initially I enlisted for three years of active duty and served as a Chinook helicopter repairman/crew chief with duty locations in Oklahoma and Korea. I later enlisted twice with the Active Army Reserve with a year in supply management and a year as a drill instructor (challenging). Finally, I worked for 35 years as an Army civilian with about half that time as an ammunition specialist/manager and the rest working in Foreign Military Sales management. Over the years I completed 5 overseas tours of duty - 3 to Korea and 2 to the Middle East. Interestingly, during the 2+ years I was in the Middle East my home was a 8 by 8 by 20 foot shipping container. In 1980 I violated one of the Army’s unwritten codes which states “Do not get married. If the Army wanted you to have a wife they would have ISSUED YOU ONE”! I fell in love with and married one of the cutest, most charming, intelligent, and funny young ladies that I’d ever met, Ok Yong Song. We were married for 33+ years through good as well as not-so-good times. We were blessed with a wonderful daughter Megan who is now Dr. Ohlfest and currently on the medical staff at Georgetown University Hospital in D.C. As I always say, she must have inherited her intelligence from her mother, as well as her good looks. On a cold and snowy February day in 2014 angels came and took Ok Yong home. The doctor said it was a brain aneurysm. But I think it was just the Lord’s will and timing and I know she’s in a better place (1 Thess. 4, 13-14). After Ok Yong’s passing I seemed to work more and even, at age 63, volunteered for another tour to the Middle East. I spent 2018 serving as the Deputy Director for the Army Materiel Command - Forward in Kuwait (most challenging). All the while the Lord was guiding myself and another equally wonderful lady, Suki Hark to meet and eventually marry. We married in a small chapel on Ft Belvoir, Virginia in 2021. My life long best friend, Jim Berends stood beside me as best man. Suki and I have a lot in common, we both lost our long-time spouses to illness, we were both career Army civilians, and we’re the same age and disposition (old and cranky). A perfect match! Together we have 4 adult children and an ever growing number of grandchildren. We both recently retired and currently live in Alexandria, Virginia - a few miles from D.C. I’ve always felt blessed to have grown up in Mt. Vernon. Part of a wonderful family, going to a good church, and sharing life with a great bunch of schoolmates. Looking back it was a beautiful childhood and I think it gave me a good foundation to weather the storms of life that we all have to face. I thank all my schoolmates for being part of those great memories and I hope that I was as good a friend to you all. I apologize if I hurt anyone as kids often do. To close, I’ve always been a music buff and at this point of my life a few tunes come to mind. “Those Were The Days by Mary Hopkin”; “The Hard Way Every Time by Jim Croce”; and “Almost Proud by the Del McCoury Band” May God bless you all and may the Lord guide us to h...(read more)