Oehler was a librarian and former lawyer who lived in the San Francisco bay area. He was a gay man who loved bridge, chess, travel, and genealogy. His meticulously detailed diaries provide a glimpse of his life.

Terry D. Oehler was born on June 30, 1940, in Newton, Iowa, the son of Charles and Myra (Awtry) Oehler. He lived most of his early life in Newton and graduated from Newton Senior High School in 1958. That same year, he enrolled at Harvard and graduated with honors with a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy. He then attended Stanford University and graduated from law school in 1965. He practiced law for national and international firms, primarily in Arizona, California and Germany, until his semiretirement circa 1995, as senior regional counsel for Legal Services Corp. in San Francisco. Following that, he pursued his love of learning in his position of government information librarian at the San Francisco Public Library. He was an avid chess and bridge player, a dog lover, an amateur photographer, as well as the family genealogist. He was very detail-oriented and his travel journals and diaries are meticulous. He died of a malignant brain tumor on November 7, 2005.

3 boxes (15 journals + 5 folders)

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