Jack Thor Ahlin, Cotuit resident, World War II veteran, and accomplished Cape Cod artist, passed away peacefully at Windsor Skilled Nursing Center in South Yarmouth on July 28, 2022. He was 97 years old.
Jack, always cheerful, funny, and in great spirits, was a friend to all he met. He spent his long retirement in Cape Cod, after moving to Cotuit from the New York City area, where he was a senior executive for IBM. Jack loved the Cape, and he filled his years here with many activities, most notably as an award-winning artist, with his acrylic paintings exhibited throughout the Cape.
Born in Los Angeles, CA, to Swedish immigrants Thor and Ruth Ahlin on August 15, 1924, Jack enjoyed growing up in LA with his beloved sister Jean. He spent summers on the beach at Long Beach, and with his blond curls, he even auditioned to be a Little Rascal in the Our Gang comedies (he lost out to Jackie Cooper). He blossomed into a highly motivated student, winning awards for speaking and essay writing, excelling at mathematics, and serving as Franklin High School student body president. He also volunteered for several service organizations, and was an honor-roll student at Los Angeles City College when he enlisted in the US Army. Inducted in March of 1943, he was selected to study Army Specialized Training at Indiana University before seeing combat in Europe with the 220th Armored Engineer Battalion of the 20th Armored Division, which liberated Munich, Dachau, and Salzburg. He received the Rhineland Campaign and Central Europe Campaign ribbons, and the Good Conduct and Victory Medals.
Discharged in 1946, Jack continued his education, attending Occidental College where, as one of the three top students, he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, as well as Sigma Pi Sigma, the national physics honor society. He then entered the California Institute of Technology as a graduate assistant, teaching freshman calculus and math. He received his MA in math and number theory from the University of Southern California. He also studied at UCLA, Harvard Business School, and MIT.
Jack married DeLoris Wogberg in 1949 and they went on to have four children. Jack and “Dee” were divorced in 1992 but remained friendly until her death in 2021.
After working for Douglas Aircraft Corp., Jack joined IBM in 1952, becoming Manager of Applied Programming, where he directed all IBM program development. Moving to the New York area, he became Director of Information Services at IBM headquarters, where he directed all application development and computer operations. He retired in 1989 and moved to Cape Cod shortly thereafter.
Jack loved a wide variety of hobbies and sports. He was an excellent skier, both snow and water, and loved sailing, kayaking, and canoeing. He was an avid stamp collector, enjoyed tennis, biking, and especially running, completing the New York Marathon three times along with dozens of shorter races. Music, reading, and faithfully following his children’s many creative and theatrical endeavors were also passions of his.
Cape Cod seemed the ideal place to fully explore Jack's greatest passion, painting. Studying with many of the Cape’s most accomplished artists, Jack grew into a superb artist in his own right, showing his work at the Cape Cod Art Center, the Cahoon Museum of American Art, Cape Cod Cultural Center, Falmouth Art Guild, Barnstable Town Hall, Cotuit Center for the Arts, Barnstable County Fair, and various other venues. His awards are many, including multiple best-in-show and first place blue ribbons, people’s choice awards, a silver bowl for excellence, the prestigious Cape Cod Art Association’s Founders Day Award, and numerous other honors. He was a regularly invited artist at several galleries, and also served on the CCAA Board of Directors. Jack was particularly fond of his friends at the Cape Cod Art Center in Barnstable.
Jack, with his world class sense of humor, his boyish sense of fun, his dignity, and his generous, happy, and caring soul will be missed by all who knew him. A favorite saying of his was, “Have a Cape Cod Day!”
He is survived by his four loving children; Robert of Raleigh, NC, Constance and John of New York, NY, and Margit of Boothbay Harbor, ME. He is also greatly missed by his extended family, which includes his five grandchildren and fifteen great-grandchildren.
The family would like to thank the excellent staff and nurses at Windsor Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in South Yarmouth for caring for Jack and accommodating his children so they could spend his final days with him.
A memorial service will be held at the Cotuit Center for the Arts, 4404 Falmouth Road, in Cotuit, on Friday October 7, at 11:00 AM. All are invited.
Jack will be interred at the Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne on Friday October 7, at 2:00 PM.
To anyone considering a memorial donation in Jack’s name, he would have appreciated a contribution to Cape Cod Art Center, the Cotuit Center for the Arts or your local arts center or group.