Michael Ojeda’s father was born in Brawley, California (in the heart of Imperial County) and his mother in East L.A.  His parents met at a dance and moved to Monterey Park.  Mike grew up in the Highland area of Monterey Park.  This was a community of about 500 people consisting of Japanese, Caucasian, and Black residents, all of whom knew each other.

From kindergarten through the 8th grade, Mike was at the same school. On week-ends he would play soft-ball all day long. He especially remembers Halloweens in which he and his friends, wearing their costumes, would run rampant through the neighborhood.  Many of his friends still live in the area.

Mike attended Alhambra High School, graduating in 1980.  Kids today have to do many projects.  Mike and his schoolmates didn’t have to do any of them.  Mike still has friends from his days at elementary and high school.  He also still sees some of his old teachers at U.S.C. games.

After graduating from high school, Mike entered Pasadena City College.

Mike’s father advised him that his next choices were either to enter military service or to get a job.  Mike opted to join the U.S. Army.

Mike was sent to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.  While Mike was on a bus with his fellow recruits arriving for basic training, reality entered the bus in the person of the drill sergeant who burned their ears with his expletive-laced greeting.

Next Mike was transferred to Fort Ord in Monterey, California, along side the Pacific ocean.

Following this, Mike underwent further training at Fort Sherman in the Panama Canal Zone.  Until his honorable discharge in June, 1984, Fort Sherman was the site of the Jungle Operations Training Center.  In the course of becoming a jungle expert, Mike would jump out of helicopters and make his way through the jungle.

The trail ultimately led out of the jungle to a house party where Mike met his wife Ana.  They were married in 1988 in El Monte. At their reception, instead of a champagne fountain, they substituted a margarita fountain.  The house was across from the El Monte airport.

Mike and Ana have three children.  Their oldest daughter Micheline (18) is a student at P.C.C.  Their son Clayton (16) attends Arcadia High School.  Finally, their younger daughter Kennedy (10) is the Vice President of her Fifth Grade Class in Hugo Reid Elementary School.

Since 1966, Mike has been in the title insurance industry.  Today Mike is General Manager at Equity Title Corp. in Glendale, California.  Despite the real estate crisis, Mike has managed to stay busy.

In entering Rotary, Mike is continuing a family tradition.   In the 1970s and the 1980s, Mike’s father was active in the East Los Angeles Rotary Club.  Mike’s father always assumed that Mike was also a Rotary Club member.