Victor Oburg

Victor “Vic” Criswell Oburg, age 86, of Kinnelon, passed peacefully at home on Thursday, July 9, 2020. Vic was born on 12/15/1933 in Pittsburgh, PA. the son of Arnett Grunder Oburg and Rebecca Criswell Oburg.  As a youth, he was active in the Boy Scouts, achieving the rank of Eagle Scout in 1950.  He graduated from Peabody High School in 1952 and attended Carnegie Tech, now Carnegie Mellon University, graduating in 1956 with a degree in mechanical engineering.  While at Carnegie Tech, he played bagpipes for the marching band, which he picked up again later in life to play on sailing trips and for his son’s wedding.  He was also a member of Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity and Pi Tau Sigma, an honorary mechanical engineering fraternity.  He received a Master of Science degree from Stevens Institute of Technology, in NJ in 1961.

Vic also served in the United States Army and was stationed at the Pentagon for much of his service.  He would recount that he was a Lieutenant and had to salute just about everyone because almost everyone at the Pentagon’s rank was higher than his.

As a young man Vic worked summers for the Koppers Company in Pittsburgh.  They were manufacturers of coke ovens relating of the coal industry. After he graduated from college, he worked for Reaction Motors in Rockaway, New Jersey in Proposal Engineering.  He later worked for the Hoke Company in Cresskill, New Jersey in the Quality Assurance Department. He also worked for the Leslie Valve Corporation in Parsippany, New Jersey as a Quality Assurance Manager before retiring from the Howmedica Division of Pfizer in Rutherford again in Quality Assurance.

Vic was an avid skier for many years and served on the Ski Patrol at Mad River Glenn ski area in Waitsfield, Vermont for thirty-three years. In the late sixties, Vic and friends built an A-Frame house in Bomoseen, VT, and later purchased two other rental houses near Bristol, VT, all to have a place to stay closer to the ski slopes.

In 1975, the family moved to the Fayson Lakes Community of Kinnelon, NJ where Vic became an active member for over 40 years. He served in many roles in Fayson Lakes including Association President and Commodore of the Yacht Club for many years.  He was also instrumental in heading up the lake dredging project from 1982- 1993 that helped clean debris out of all 3 lakes as well as provide funds to the association. When the work was complete and the lake was still drained he placed a statue of a woman at the bottom of West Lake. She stands in about forty feet of water still today and is known as the “lady of the lake.”

He had mutual friends with Kathy Keesler-Barr and heard through the grapevine that she too was divorced. They met again at a Pines Lake home for a brunch meeting of the Ramapo Mountain Ski Club. They began dating and fell in love.  Vic and Kathy married on September 24, 1993 aboard a paddle wheel boat on the Hudson River. Vic and Kathy enjoyed being outdoors and for many years enjoyed sunfish sailing in area regattas. They have enjoyed twenty-seven years of marriage.

His hobbies included skiing, sailing, tennis, playing and teaching bridge as well as being a master at fixing things! He was also an American Heart Association certified CPR Instructor for many years.  He traveled the world with one of his favorite trips being to Antarctica in 2004 where he dressed as a penguin to get closer to the native birds. In 2012, he and Kathy took a trip around the world with National Geographic and he said that was his second favorite trip.

Vic and Kathy were members of the Montclair Ski Club for about 20 years.  They used the club's lodge at Mad River Glen often when Vic was doing his patrol stints.  Over the years they participated in many of the social activities and enjoyed being members.  Vic also organized a ski trip to Big Sky, Montana for members in one of their early years.

Vic is survived by his wife, Katharine Oburg, his sister Mary Louise Oburg Lavender (Richard) of San Antonio, TX and he was a devoted father to his 3 children from his first marriage; Kris Dell of Stanley, NC, Lynn Oburg of Winters, CA, and Marc Oburg (Cherie), of Moore, SC, and grandfather to Katrina Dell, Collin Oburg and Katelyn Oburg.