More detail on this person: John P. Carlson, 61, editor of business magazines, civic leader John P. Carlson, 61, a Sacramento civic leader who was executive editor of Comstock's Business Magazines, died Sunday of cancer. Among other things, he was active with People Reaching Out, a group that puts on drug-prevention programs for kids. Mr. Carlson played a key role in starting the Magic of Kids program, an all-day anti-drug festival held for at-risk children in October, said Kathy Hill, president of People Reaching Out. "If it hadn't been for John, that event would never have happened," Hill said. "He was incredible." Mr. Carlson also was a past president of Big Brothers/Big Sisters, co-chairman of the Stanford Home Capital Campaign and served on the boards of several other groups. "John was always looking for ways to improve the community," said Tom Hobday, an assistant dean for UC Davis Health Systems. "He was a facilitator who brought people together, a guy who could make things happen." Born in Muscatine, Iowa, he was one of three children of the former Esther Anderson and the Rev. Carol O. Carlson, a Lutheran minister. He attended high school in Springfield, Mo., then went on to Southwest Missouri State University, where he graduated in 1961 with a degree in economics and an Army commission through the Reserve Officer Training Corps. His Army service, which lasted from 1962 until 1968, included a stint as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam. There, he was wounded in action and received the Purple Heart. He also was awarded the Air Medal with numerous oak leaf clusters. After his military service, he worked in banking and commercial real estate in Houston. Mr. Carlson came to Sacramento in 1975 and became president of Communications Design Inc. and later formed Carlson Associates, an advertising agency. During the next two decades, he was a consultant on marketing, advertising and industry relations to numerous businesses, a news release by Comstock's Business Magazines said. He was married twice. His first marriage, to the former Linda Dickerson, ended in divorce. He married Winnie Comstock, founder and publisher of Comstock's Business Magazines, in 1995, the same year he went to work for the publications. Comstock's Business Magazines publishes monthly editions for 10 Northern California counties and two quarterly editions - one for Northern Nevada, the other for Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties. Survivors include his wife, Winnie Comstock Carlson of Rancho Murieta; mother, Esther Carlson of Springfield, Mo.; daughter, Christi Carlson of Sacramento; son, Donnie Carlson of Miami Beach, Fla.; stepdaughter, Carmel Comstock of Sacramento; brothers, Paul Nathan Carlson and Carl Daniel Carlson, both of Springfield. A memorial service is planned for 3:30 p.m. Thursday in St. John's Lutheran Church, 17th and L streets, Sacramento.
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Date posted on this site: 03/10/2024
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