JOHN MOWERY

John Mowery passed away at the age of 72, Monday, August 30th, 2010 at home with his family. Born in 1937, he was raised on an orchard in Kennewick and is a Kennewick Lion, class of 1956.

He and his wife Judith raised their two kids Eric and Elaine on a small farm out on Harrington Road outside of West Richland. On weekends, if the family wasn't out gardening, they were somewhere between L Lake Louise and Yellowstone, hiking, fishing and canoeing.

John was a mechanical engineer grad from Washington State University, and worked out in the Hanford area most of his career.

Retiring early from WPPSS, they moved camp to Camano Island for five years, where they were quite active gardening, hiking and volunteering with the state park. John used his canoe to paddle out into the bay to set his crab pots.

Next they headed to Wenatchee for five years, having always loved the beauty of the east slope of the Cascades.

It was in their final year there that he began to feel the long term effects of juvenile diabetes. They headed back to the west side near Olympia these last six years.

Realizing this summer that he couldn't enjoy gardening anymore, he bravely decided to enter hospice at home and ended two years of dialysisand stopped insulin. Three days of laughter, stories and slide shows ensued, and he ate foods he couldn't eat for decades. Of note was the half gallon of Rocky Road ice cream and the tub of potato salad he put away with a smile. The remaining three days he was cared for by his wife and children around the clock.

In lieu of flowers for the avid outdoors man and flyfisherman, please take your family for a hike or go fishing.

Send donations to the American Diabetes Association.

At his request there will be no services. That said, friends and family are invited for a short hike along the Icicle Creek, north of Leavenworth, to one of his favorite spots, on Oct. 2, Details:

ericmowery@yahoo.com