Message from the Board

December 2025

In Memory of Karl Bohan 

I did not know Karl Bohan well.  I knew who he was from attending the occasional Alpine Club meeting, but we didn’t really meet until he joined the Board of Friends of Camas in late 2017, and we really didn’t interact much until he succeeded me as President of FoC in early 2019.  From that point on for the next couple of years we were on the phone or emailing or texting on a nearly weekly basis.  I am not sure our relationship could be called a traditional friendship.  We didn’t go golfing or fishing or hiking together.  We never met for a beer.  Except for FoC related gatherings, he and Colleen never came to our house for dinner, and my wife Patty and I never went to theirs.  But our relationship was much more than an acquaintance.  The mission of Friends of Camas is Fostering environmental education, conservation, and scientific study at the refuge for the benefit of the resources and the enjoyment by the public. This was our connection.  Karl’s palpable passion for the outdoors translated into solid leadership for FoC.  His financial acumen put FoC on a firm and sustainable economic footing.  His background in education and the natural sciences made him an eloquent spokesman for everything FoC stood for.  His engaging personality made him a rock star in promoting FoC activities and projects. His leadership brought Friends of Camas to a new level.

“This disease is killing me, but it’s not going to keep me from living.”  Several months before he passed, these were the last words Karl Bohan said to me.  We were at a dinner with other board members of Friends of Camas to celebrate Karl’s contribution to the organization. At first glance Karl looked his usual vigorous and robust self with a thousand-watt smile and a twinkle in his eye.  But Karl was tired, and understandably so.  He had been diagnosed with multiple cancers several years prior, and was simply running out of gas.  The disease was gaining ground and the treatments, surgeries, and uncounted trips to the Huntsman’s Cancer Center in SLC were taking their toll.  Karl was not in denial.  He knew the end game, but until he no longer had the strength, he was continuing to live:  biking in YNP, canoe trips with lifelong friends, visiting with family, golfing, etc.  He did all the things he did when he was healthy, but now at a progressively slower pace.  Like many who receive the dreaded diagnosis of cancer, he could have simply stayed home, felt sorry for himself, and winked out.  But that was not his way.  He knew his time was limited, but that didn’t stop him from making the best of what time he had left.  

If nothing else (and of course, there is a lot of else) Karl was an inspiration.  He accepted the inevitable, took a deep breath, and kept moving forward.  One could do no better.  Happy trails, Karl. 

 
Tim Reynolds

Friends of Camas Advisory Board Member & Former Friends of Camas President