John Charles Anderson

July 31, 1939 - March 9, 2024

My beloved father John Anderson passed away Saturday, March 9th 2024. He passed peacefully after lunch while taking a nap in his favorite chair. I would like to take this time to talk about his life and the memories I will fondly remember forever. For those of you who knew him well he was famous for what I call “The long goodbye”. He always gave a very thorough goodbye each and every time we parted ways. I would usually initiate the goodbye a good 10 minutes before we separated to prepare. This was the normal routine until the very end and it would always conclude by him smiling and waving to me while I drove away seeing him in my rear view mirror. My dad wore many hats throughout his life. Here is a list of what I know and I imagine there are some things I missed. Priest Lake jack of all trades including; dock attendant, bartender, waiter, handyman, delivery driver and the first yacht club commodore a parody to formal stuffy clubs. He was a student, ski coach, volunteer firefighter, air national guardsman, teacher, writer, business consultant, little league coach, Seattle aquarium volunteer for twenty years, a docent at the museum of flight, great friend to many, a really nice guy, and the best dad I could ask for. He enjoyed life very much and taught me many things directly and indirectly. Thanks to him I learned to be compassionate, a good listener, encourage those around you, smile, share what you have, appreciate life, make notes, give back however you are able, travel when you can, love, stay very organized, be humble, laugh as much as possible, laugh at yourself, be fair to everyone and everything, use proper grammar, be respectful, do not judge, try not to complain and the golden rule of treating everyone how you would like to be treated. We shared so many memories together; here are some of my favorites. When I was very young we would take the bus to SeaTac airport to watch airplanes, monster trucks at the Kingdome, building and launching model rockets, playing catch, sitting on the back bumper of the Volvo station wagon while he drove me around Sunday mornings delivering the Seattle Times and celebrating a successful route with a donut at Winchell’s, Mariner games, lots of Mariner games, our annual ski trip in the old Honda that somehow made it up the mountain every time, enjoying time with our cats throughout the years, Priest Lake, weekly dinners at Outback steakhouse, cracking jokes, Whistler adventures; skiing, zip-lining, bobsleighing and having a pint of Smithwick's at our favorite pub the Dubn Linn Gate, taking drives around Akli beach stopping to sit to watch the bird and take in the view, and just being with him as much as I could was always a treat I never took for granted. Dad, thank you for being an amazing human being. You will forever be a huge part of my life and you will always be smiling in my rear view mirror waving goodbye, I love you.