Friend and former city councilor Dennis Slattery remembers Stromberg’s collaboration, persistence

Former Ashland mayor John Stromberg died at the age of 85 Friday morning, friend and former city councilor Dennis Slattery said in a phone call with Ashland.news. 

Stromberg served three terms as Mayor of Ashland from 2008 to 2020, with an additional four years of service on the Planning Commission and two years as Commission Chair, according to a 2021 interview with Stromberg by Jordan Pease, director of the Rogue Valley Metaphysical Library. 

Collaboration, persistence, creativity and “never saying no,” to city events — from Chamber of Commerce board meetings to the Fourth of July — marked Stromberg’s service as mayor, Slattery said. Sandra Slattery, Dennis’s wife, remembered the heart in that service while joining on the phone call.

“It was authentic, his love of the community. It wasn’t something he felt he should do, it was something he wanted to do,” she said. 

Stromberg and his wife, Jane, moved to Ashland from Eugene in 2000, Pease’s article said. Stromberg had a Ph.D. in Business Administration, a Masters in Statistics from UC Berkeley, and a Bachelor’s degree in Physics from Caltech, according to his LinkedIn page. He was awarded “Citizen of the Year” by the Ashland Chamber of Commerce in 2022. 

“Citizen of the Year generally recognizes an individual who has given of themselves, usually over many years, significant time and dedication to the community that can reach into numerous organizations,” the Chamber of Commerce website said. 

In remembrance of his outstanding service to Ashland, the website said Stromberg was given the award with the awareness that “his fingerprints are all over the heart and soul of this community and will be forever.” 

“It’s a big loss. He lived a long and wonderful life — we will celebrate that,” Dennis Slattery said. 

Email Ashland.news reporter Morgan Rothborne at morganr@ashland.news. This story first appeared at Ashland.news.