John Winston Blodger 7/30/1941 - 1/6/2023

John Winston Blodger, 81 years of age, passed away on January 6th due to complications from Parkinson's Disease. John's parents were Norwegian immigrants who bought a house in Auburn at the corner of Pleasant and High Streets in 1934. They raised 3 sons, John being the youngest. John's teenage years were spent very much like the movie American Graffiti, taking dates to Auburn Drug's soda fountain, "tooling the main" with his buddies in their hot rods and participating in late-night drag races along Old State Highway 40 outside Newcastle. John attended Placer High School, graduating in 1959. While in high school John worked for the Union Ice Company. He continued his education at Sierra College where he met his wife of 59 years, Sharon. After Sierra College, John worked for Aerojet Corporation building rocket engines. He then went to work for the Department of Water Resources from 1965 to 1972. Following his time with DWR, he worked for the California State Parks and Recreation Department, retiring in 2001 as the Senior Land Surveyor for California State Parks. John and Sharon bought a house in Meadow Vista in 1967 where they lived together for over 50 years while raising their two children. During the late 1960's and early 1970's John was Assistant Fire Chief for the Meadow Vista Fire Department and served on the Board of Directors for the Meadow Vista Water District. After retiring, John volunteered for the Meadow Vista Library, was a member of the Meadow Vista Trails Association and served on the Meadow Vista Advisory Committee (MAC) for several years. John had a passion for woodworking and all things mechanical. Together with his son Scott, he collected and restored tractors and old gas engines from the early 1900's as a hobby. He and his daughter Paula always looked forward to May when Auburn's Cruise Night would begin, walking Lincoln Way sharing their love of vintage cars and hot rods. The family also enjoyed many vacations at Elwell Lakes Lodge in Sierra County as well as numerous backpacking and hiking trips to the Sierras. John is survived by his children, Scott Blodger and Paula Bianco (husband Sean Bianco) of Meadow Vista and his brothers Knute Blodger of Rocklin, California and Arthur Blodger of Marshall, Michigan. There will be no service held.