When John Dahlem heard that a friend had been on a hike or a bike ride, Dahlem would offer praise and admiration as if the friend had inspired Dahlem to try the same endeavors.
When it was very much the other way around.
John S. Dahlem died Friday at age 81. A long and somehow enthusiastic fight against cancer is over.
His life was … well, where to start when describing the life of this teacher, coach, principal, Vietnam veteran, sports historian, husband and father and grandfather, and an elite adventurer?
Let’s start at the top. The top of the world.
Dahlem and his son Ryan together climbed Mt. Everest, reaching the summit on May 24, 2010. Dahlem was 66, making him at the time the second-oldest American to get to the top of the world’s highest mountain. He and Ryan, age 40 at the time, became the oldest father-son team of any nation to do so.
John Dahlem completed what is called “The Explorer’s Grand Slam,” which is to reach the North Pole and the South Pole and to attain the summit of the highest mountains on all of Earth’s seven continents.
If you were to meet Dahlem for the first time you might think this guy couldn’t be the grand adventurer you’ve heard about. With Dahlem’s tall, lanky build, his eyeglasses and the shortage of hair on his head, he looked more like a high school principal.
Which would be an accurate assessment.
Dahlem was the principal at Kennedy, Loara and Western high schools in Anaheim. He was also a high school football and wrestling coach.
He was a very successful varsity wrestling head coach at Loara from 1969-84. Dahlem’s teams won 10 league championships and a CIF Southern Section championship, and his Saxons teams were CIF-SS finalists two other times. Loara varsity wrestling was 233-36 during his coaching tenure, and 55-1 in league matches.
Dahlem was the first coach inducted into the Orange County Wrestling Hall of Fame. He also is in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and the California Wrestling Hall of Fame. His importance to his athletes’ lives was profound; many had Dahlem, an ordained minister, officiate at their weddings.
Dahlem was active in Southern California high school sports in a variety of other ways, including serving as CIF-SS President of the Council from 2004-06. He also worked on the CIF State Hearing Panel that deals with transfers and other matters and has contributed greatly to the CIF-SS historical archives that have been named the Dr. John S. Dahlem Digital Library in his honor.
He also has been an advisor to CIF-SS officers.
“John was a mentor, an advisor and confidant to me,” said former CIF-SS commissioner Rob Wigod. “He was always so supportive and also very honest. It was very special to have that sort of relationship with him.”
Dahlem was born in Santa Monica on July 24, 1943. He went to Santa Monica High and then to the University of Oregon, where he played football, got his degree in history and met his future wife Sioux.
He went on to earn a Master of Arts in Latin American History from UCLA and a Doctor of Philosophy in Human Behavior and Leadership from the United States International University. Dahlem was recognized as “Veteran of the Game” at the Ohio State-Oregon football game this fall.
Dahlem went on to serve in the U.S. Army as first lieutenant and company commander in Vietnam. Dahlem received the U.S. Armed Service Bronze Star for Meritorious Unit Commendation and the Vietnam Service Medal.
He ran in the Los Angeles Marathon five times and in the Long Beach Marathon three times. John and Sioux ran the 5K in Huntington Beach’s Surf City Run on July 4 while John was in his second year of his cancer battle. They again finished first in their age group.
Dahlem reached the summit of Mt. Whitney 25 times. At 14,505 feet, it is the tallest mountain in the continental United States. His first hike to the top of Whitney included sons Shawn, 16 years old at the time, and Ryan who was 12.
Ryan accompanied his father on all of the successful climbs to the “Seven Summits,” the highest points of every continent. The Dahlems also summited Mt. Rainier in Washington three times, Mt. Hood in Oregon, and Mt. Cho Oyu, the sixth-highest mountain in the world at 26,864 feet, in Nepal.
Former Chapman University president Jim Doti was a longtime Dahlem friend and hiking partner.
“He’s really one of the finest men I’ve ever known,” Doti said. “He was super people-focused. He touched so many lives.”
Whenever Dahlem learned that Doti was planning a mountain climb excursion, Dahlem volunteered his advice.
“John would put in so much work to help me prepare,” Doti said. “He would tell me what I should do in my training program. He really went out of his way to help me whenever I needed to train for a mountain.”
And when Doti and Dahlem hiked together …
“Whichever way we were going on the hill,” Doti said, “we had to stop every 20 feet because John knew somebody who was either going up or down the hill and he’d stop to talk with them.”
The Dahlem family said when John passed away at home on Friday that he died with his eyes open and a smile.
Perhaps the adventurer was ready for more.