Alumni Focus - Roger Ohmann ('78)
Roger Ohmann (‘78) is a talented woodworker with some wise words for current students in our high school Applied Technologies and middle school Woodshop classes. He reflects on the benefits of his St. Croix education, even before we offered classes in the trades, and shares the joy of making something useful with the people he loves, using his many talents from God.
Tell us a little about your career and interests in woodworking.
I was accepted into the St. Paul TVI Cabinet Making course right out of high school. At that time it was a two year full-time course, followed by two years of night school to complete the apprenticeship program. I worked at Pioneer Cabinets part-time while still at St. Paul TVI.
Once I graduated, I was hired by Merchandising Fixtures Inc (MFI) which was one of the first Millwork companies in the country to use computerized woodworking equipment. The machinery all came from Italy through Stiles machinery in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I ran the panel saw there for a couple years and then began moving up in the company. In 1985 I was asked to relocate to Kansas where MFI was opening a sister plant. I was asked to establish the vendor relationships and also was the shop foreman. In 1987 I returned to Minnesota and MFI where I eventually took over the materials management department.
After MFI was sold, I worked as the Production Manager at California Closets and Northway Display Company where we made Displays for conventions around the country.
In 1994, my brother Phil, a 1975 St. Croix graduate, and I started Monarch Wood Products in St. Paul. We primarily produced commercial millwork for car dealerships, schools, churches and medical facilities. We periodically made residential cabinets. Over the years several St. Croix graduates came to work with us as cabinet makers or CNC (computer numeric control) operators.
Monarch Wood Products was absorbed by Vision Woodworking in 2022. At that time I, along with four of our employees, came to work at Vision. Fortunately most of Monarch’s commercial clients followed to Vision.
At Vision I am a Project Manager, coordinating the details on commercial projects. This includes bidding the projects, reviewing contracts, purchasing materials, reviewing the blue prints and shop drawings for accuracy, verifying the quality expectations are maintained, and coordinating the shipping, delivery and installation of the product.
There are lots of moving parts so no two days are the same! However, I do miss being in the shop every day!
Did St. Croix have any wood shop or classes for the trades when you were a student?
No, St. Croix did not have a woodshop class in 1974-78 when I was there. In fact I begged my parents to allow me to go to the local public high school that did have a woodshop class. They said that if I got the solid education that St. Croix was giving me, that I would do just fine at the TVI classes.
It turned out they were right! At St. Paul TVI, I was able to test out of the required English and Physics classes, which allowed me to spend that time working at Pioneer Cabinets each afternoon gaining real hands-on experience.
How did your education at St. Croix prepare you for the work you’re doing now?
When I hear kids say “Why do I need to learn Algebra – I’m never going to need it?” I just shake my head, because I use it so very often!
On a non-career page of my life, the religion classes have been instrumental in my ability to be blessed with enjoying teaching Sunday School and the Teen Bible classes, off and on for almost 45 years at St. James Lutheran Church, where St. Croix High School began.
What is your favorite project you’ve worked on?
Recently we did the Council Chamber in Duluth, MN. (photo attached) This was a fun project with the moldings on the curved desk front panels all needing to be steamed in order to bend to the curve. This steaming was a first for the Vision crew and it turned out great!
But my personal favorites were when my wife directed the Christmas program for the Sunday School and she had all these elaborate stage settings like the hill for the shepherds to be watching their flocks on, turning into the manger scene where Jesus was born! That was so different and fun to do! And the time for my oldest son’s Prom Grand March at St. Croix, we made the 16 foot high Arc de Triomphe for the “Rendezvous in Paris” theme that year.
Those projects weren’t really cabinet making per se, but the skills learned while making cabinets are what allowed me to be able to construct pieces that brought a lot of joy to many people. I think that, and that I was able to do them with my wife, is why they are my favorites.
What was your favorite memory at St. Croix?
The people without a doubt! When I think back on the good memories, it’s always the people that made them such great memories!
The ’76 and ’77 Basketball championships! The ’78 Talent Contest when “The Smelly Feet” won! Intramurals when Bob’s Great Dane played center field for our class!
What advice do you have for SCLA students who want to pursue a career in woodworking?
You can make an honest living going into the wood working industry. It can be very rewarding! But you won’t get rich. Good cabinet makers are hard to find, so there is certainly a demand for those workers. I would also recommend learning the business side of the industry. Learn the technical – engineering – programming – CNC sides. Not only are those the higher paying positions in the industry, but that way when you get older and the body doesn’t want to function like it did when you were in your 20’s or 40’s you have a foundation to continue your career in the business.