G. L. ‘Lee’ Ogden; Longtime Ventura Educator

Longtime Ventura educator G. L. Ogden died Nov. 7 in a local hospital. He was 103.

“Lee,” as he was known, worked at Ventura Junior High School, now Cabrillo Middle School, for 12 years beginning in the 1930s. He became principal in the early 1940s.

Nancy Gallardo, a human resources clerk with the Ventura Unified School District, was a student at the junior high and worked in the office during Ogden’s term as principal. She recalled the former principal being a caring man.

“He was a lovely man who had very impeccable manners,” she said. “He was highly respected.”

Ogden left the junior high to teach history at Ventura High School, where he remained for a number of years. After he retired from his full-time position, he came back as a substitute, Gallardo said.

Since 1993, Ogden had lived with his granddaughter Leslie and her husband, Steve Bennett, a Ventura city councilman.

Bennett recalls Lee Ogden as being a whiz at checkers.

“He could still, at 103, beat most visitors regularly at checkers,” Bennett said. “. . . They’d think they were dealing with some old man, and he’d just sit there and wallop them.”

Another of Ogden’s passions was swimming, which he would do every day after work through Christmas.

He picked it up again when he turned 80 and swam 90 miles the year he turned 90. “That was quite an accomplishment for him,” Bennett said.

He also was a regular swimmer at the Pierpont Racquet Club in Ventura, and continued doing laps until he was 101.

Bennett said Ogden kept his “mental sharpness” until his death.

“He just took everything that happened in stride and continued to joke,” Bennett said. “You’d tease him, and he’d come right back at you with a one-liner.”

In addition to his granddaughter, Ogden is survived by three sons, W. L. Ogden of Red Bluff, Robert Ogden of San Marino and Richard Ogden of Black Hawk, S. D., and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

A celebration of his life will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Pierpont Racquet Club.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Caregivers of Ventura, 261 N. Catalina St., Ventura 93001.

Cremation arrangements were under the direction of Ted Mayr Funeral Home, Ventura.

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