Byron Johnson, age 80, passed away peacefully in Bellingham on Saturday, April 4, 2020. He was born December 28, 1939 in Los Angeles, CA to Clayton and Frances (Nelson) Johnson. Byron graduated from Mexico City College with a degree in International Business in 1962 and remained fluent in Spanish throughout his lifetime. Byron was a Lieutenant in the United States Navy and served for seven years in Naval Intelligence during the Vietnam War. While stationed in Japan from 1967-1969, Byron learned Mandarin Chinese and used his language skills as a Cryptographer and Interpreter aboard the USS Providence, the Commanding Ship of the 7th Fleet. He married Donna Wahlgren on September 11, 1965 in Panama. Upon retiring from the Navy in 1969, they moved to Bellingham. Byron and Donna were active members in the Meridian School District. Byron was Cub Scoutmaster and PTA president. Together he and Donna ran the fair booth and chaperoned numerous school dances and events, most notably the Meridian ski bus for 15 years. In 1984 Byron founded McClary, Swift & Co., a customs brokerage business in Blaine and was President of the Northern Border Customs Brokers Association for two years. All three of Byron's children graduated from WSU and he was an avid Coug fan. Byron and Donna are members of the Church of the Assumption in Bellingham. Byron enjoyed boating in the San Juans, fishing, skiing, collecting (anything and everything!), gardening at the family home on the Kelly Road for 50 years and most of all, his family. He will be remembered as a loving husband, father and grandfather. Byron was preceded in death by his parents. He is survived by his loving wife of 55 years, Donna, children Jennyne Johnson (Jeff Bates), Mark Johnson (Staci) and Natalie Milligan (Stephen "Spike"), grandchildren Bradley, Joshua, Oliver, Drew, and Rhys, and many loving relatives and friends. In lieu of flowers, memorials in Byron's name may be made to Church of the Assumption, 2116 Cornwall Ave, Bellingham, WA 98225. Mass of Christian Burial will be held at Church of the Assumption at a later date. You may share memories with the family at www.westfordfuneralhome.com. As Byron would say, "There is a great adventure everywhere, you just have to look for it."
*******************************
Eulogy written by his son Mark:
Good morning everyone. I am Mark Johnson. On behalf of my family, I would like to thank you all for being here with us this morning to celebrate the life of my dad, Byron Johnson, and to say goodbye.
My dad was born and raised in Los Angeles. After World War 2, his dad went to the Philippines for work, so he was mostly raised by his mom and grandparents.
After high school and a couple years of junior college in LA, he enrolled in Mexico City College on a scholarship. After two years of living in Mexico, he graduated with a degree in International Trade and had become fluent in Spanish.
After college, he returned to LA and worked for a customs broker.
During this time, the Viet Nam war was going on. Rather than risk getting drafted into the Army, he enlisted in the Navy. He took the Officers Candidate School exam, passed and joined the Navy as an Ensign.
During his time in the Navy, he worked for Naval Intelligence. He was stationed in Panama in the Canal Zone, a time which he referred to as a "three-year paid vacation" which included such adventures as Tropical Survival Training, Jungle Warfare School, and scuba diving.
While stationed in Panama he was granted leave one Easter and returned to California for a short visit. During this brief visit, he met my mom for the first time.
After Easter, he went back to Panama and my mom retuned to Oakland.
His parents and my mom's parents were now neighbors. Later that year, my dad came home for Christmas.
As a favor to his parent's neighbors, he agreed to pick up their daughter from the airport, who was also coming home for Christmas. While they had met once before a few months ago, my mom was given only one instruction, "Look for the man in a military uniform. " This was 1964 during Viet Nam, so there many men were in uniform.
My mom was also born and raised in Los Angeles and grew up a few miles away from my dad. Yet it would take over 20 for years for fate to bring them together. But they did find each other and both thought it was worth the wait.
After one whole week together, my dad asked my mom to marry him. It took my mom a weekend to ponder the proposal, but luckily for my sisters and I, she said "Yes."
Last September, they celebrated their 54th wedding anniversary.
They got married in Panama in 1965. Shortly thereafter, they were transferred to Monterey, CA, where my dad studied Chinese at the Foreign Language Institute.
A year later, my oldest sister Jennyne, was born. Next stop on their Navy adventure was Japan, where I was born.
After 6 years in the Navy, it was time to settle down, so with two little kids in tow, they moved to Bellingham.
They had never been here before, but they chose this town because it met certain criteria: It was on the west coast, had a college for continuing education opportunities, and had less annual rainfall than their second choice, Olympia.
After about a year, they found a little farmhouse on 10 acres on the Kelly Road. While just a few miles north of Bellingham, in 1970 it was way out in the boonies. Their California friends thought they were crazy and even referred to them as the "Waltons."
Soon, my youngest sister, Natalie was born.
Neither my mom or dad had any brothers or sisters. So growing up, we did not have any aunts, uncles or cousins. A Johnson family gathering was my mom, dad, two sisters and myself, and sometimes grandparents would join us. Our family circle was quite small with just the five of us.
My mom and dad's friendship with others spread wide and touched a lot of lives
Our little circle grew to include our family, good friends and neighbors. The line between those terms has always been blurry, because our friends and neighbors have always felt like family to us.
As friends of my mom and dad, Byron made an impact on your life, which is why you are here today. I am sure my dad would be pleased to see you all and would certainly be grateful that he did have so many friends.
Our little family has now grown. Byron was proud to say that he had two daughters, one son, five grandchildren, a daughter-in-law, and two sons-in-law. And our family continues to grow. My nephew Josh is engaged, and he and his fiancé, Callie, came all the way from Georgia to be with us this weekend.
When my parents first moved to Bellingham, my dad got a job in Seattle during the week. My mom would take him to the bus stop in Bellingham on Sunday nights and he would take the bus to Seattle, where he stayed at the YMCA and worked at a Customs brokerage office in downtown Seattle. He found a customs broker job closer to home in Blaine and ended up working with the folks at Border Brokerage Company for several years. In 1984, he struck out on his own and started his own customs brokerage firm. His business required long hours and hard work. My sisters and I learned the value of hard work and responsibility, and that persistence and dedication were two of the requirements for success.
Running a business takes a lot of time and energy. Yet my dad was also active in the brokerage industry and had served as president of the Northern Border Customs Brokers Association for two years. After his last meeting as president of the association, he retired.
After my dad passed away, we received a lot cards, letters and phone calls from people in the brokerage community from all around the country letting us know how sad they were to hear about my dad and how much he had meant to them.
My dad had been retired for over 19 years. Despite the time that had passed, his friendship with them still remained. Many shared their favorite memories that still made them smile after all this time.
My dad had many hobbies and activities he enjoyed.
Skiing:
My family started skiing when I was young. My folks thought it would be a fun thing to do as a family. We had spent many Saturdays at Mt Baker, and several spring break vacations skiing at Whistler or Mt Bachelor down in Oregon. Mom and Dad both chaperoned the Meridian school's ski bus every Saturday for years, even after we had graduated and moved on. Their ski trips took them to British Columbia, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. When dad turned 70, he was now eligible for a Super Senior rate for a seasons pass at Mt. Baker. For less than $150, he could enjoy a year of unlimited skiing. He still bought new skis now and then and even had a seasons pass for this past season.
Tools:
He also liked spending time out in his shop, "puttering around," as he would say.
Dad was always pretty handy at building things. After he retired, he took a woodworking class and became quite a talented woodworker. While he managed to build a beautiful toy box for my son and a few things for my boat, most of his projects were building tool holders, tool cabinets, or things to hold more tools, which, in order to make them, required the purchase of more tools.
Gardening:
Their house on the Kelly Road is out in the county. It has a big lawn and lots of flower beds.
Weeds were his nemesis and he waged a lifelong battle against them. Despite having a lot of flower beds, he and my mom still put in a few more and expanded those they had. This meant more weeds. This was a vicious circle. If that weren't enough, he and my mom volunteered at Assumption parish to maintain the flowerbeds here, planting and pruning trees, bushes, shrubs and taking care of the rose garden. He could go anywhere with his Felco Number 6 pruning shears.
Their old farmhouse out in the country turned into a beautiful home with a yard, flowerbeds and gardens that looks like a park.
My sisters and I think there are no weeds in heaven, so my dad can spend eternity gardening in peace!
Travelling:
My dad traveled a lot. First during the Navy because he had to, then for fun because he could.
If he had a business trip, my mom would often come along. Every fall included a trip to Washington, DC and every February, to escape the cold and snow of the Northern Border, they went somewhere warm and sunny, to places like the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hawaii and Mexico.
They enjoyed boating through the San Juans, the Gulf Islands and even made it all the way up to the Broughton Islands which are about 200 miles north of Vancouver.
In addition to numerous ski trips and cruises, their travels took them to Australia and to New Zealand, where he and my mom went bungee jumping on the 30th anniversary.
They made a few trips to Europe, including two with Fr Scott. These Catholic pilgrimages included the Camino de Santiago in Spain and Lourdes in France.
While he never got to Tahiti like he dreamed about, every fall, he and my mom went to Hawaii for a couple weeks to celebrate their anniversary. This last fall, they were joined by my sister Jennyne and her husband Jeff. Jennyne shared several pictures on Facebook of them at the beach and hiking through the jungle up to waterfall. Always wearing his straw hat. At the ripe old age of 79, my dad was still active and having fun.
As my dad once told my son Oliver, "Everywhere, every day has some interesting adventure waiting to happen. You just have to look for it."
But for all of his travels, and the places he had been, his favorite place on earth was their home on the Kelly Road.
Like our family, their little farmhouse on the Kelly Road grew up, too. They added an addition, more than a few renovations, a new shop and a barn once dubbed "The Cow Palace." Today, a few more things hang on the walls, a bit more "memorabilia" is on shelves and in cabinets.
My parents work on their house taught us to take pride in making a house a home, and making something better than when you found it.
I was fortunate to grow up there and still call it home, even though I haven't lived there in since I graduated from college.
Ordinary Time:
We have in our lives extraordinary days. We celebrate Christmas, Easter, birthdays and anniversaries. But the rest of the year is a regular, ordinary, day. The day in day out, often the daily grind.
As Catholics, we also have the liturgical year that starts with the season of Advent, becomes Christmastime, then ordinary time, followed by Lent, then Easter, then back to ordinary time. Ordinary Time takes up most of the year.
It is the ordinary time, and ordinary days that make up to majority of our lives.
But when we look back on our lives, those ordinary times are often the most special moments
The time we spend with our friends and family.
With the Covid-19 restrictions in place since last March, these days seem like unusual times.
There is quarantine, a lot of restrictions on gatherings, who can come, how many people can be there.
We missed the extraordinary events, like birthday parties, last day of school, graduations, going off to college. We missed sharing in those milestones in person with our family and friends. We also missed the ordinary days and just getting together.
When my dad was in the hospital, we had a family zoom call with him. We were all separated by physical distance, but technology brought us together. We had one last time for the Johnson clan to laugh, tell stories, share our time together. A lot of the stories we shared were about an ordinary time that meant something special to us. My dad passed away later that evening.
I miss him every day. But I do have very fond memories of our time together. His sayings, that we call "Byron-isms", his stories that were often told more than once, and a lot of memories that are special to me will always bring a smile when I think about them.
When dad was ready to leave, whether it was to go somewhere, or a party, or if he just got tired of waiting, he would not wait for a break in the conversation or for an appropriate moment to quietly excuse himself. He would simply stand up and say, "Well folks, it's time to press on."
When his life on earth was coming to an end, it was his time to press on.
Today we celebrate and remember 80 years of ordinary time with a lot of extraordinary events that made up my dad's extraordinary life. We are grateful that we got to share in all those ordinary times with my dad.
Thank you all for being a part of our family circle and joining with my family and me to celebrate the life of Byron. A life that brough joy, happiness and friendship to so many.
I love you, Dad. Thank you.
*******************************
Eulogy written by his son Mark:
Good morning everyone. I am Mark Johnson. On behalf of my family, I would like to thank you all for being here with us this morning to celebrate the life of my dad, Byron Johnson, and to say goodbye.
My dad was born and raised in Los Angeles. After World War 2, his dad went to the Philippines for work, so he was mostly raised by his mom and grandparents.
After high school and a couple years of junior college in LA, he enrolled in Mexico City College on a scholarship. After two years of living in Mexico, he graduated with a degree in International Trade and had become fluent in Spanish.
After college, he returned to LA and worked for a customs broker.
During this time, the Viet Nam war was going on. Rather than risk getting drafted into the Army, he enlisted in the Navy. He took the Officers Candidate School exam, passed and joined the Navy as an Ensign.
During his time in the Navy, he worked for Naval Intelligence. He was stationed in Panama in the Canal Zone, a time which he referred to as a "three-year paid vacation" which included such adventures as Tropical Survival Training, Jungle Warfare School, and scuba diving.
While stationed in Panama he was granted leave one Easter and returned to California for a short visit. During this brief visit, he met my mom for the first time.
After Easter, he went back to Panama and my mom retuned to Oakland.
His parents and my mom's parents were now neighbors. Later that year, my dad came home for Christmas.
As a favor to his parent's neighbors, he agreed to pick up their daughter from the airport, who was also coming home for Christmas. While they had met once before a few months ago, my mom was given only one instruction, "Look for the man in a military uniform. " This was 1964 during Viet Nam, so there many men were in uniform.
My mom was also born and raised in Los Angeles and grew up a few miles away from my dad. Yet it would take over 20 for years for fate to bring them together. But they did find each other and both thought it was worth the wait.
After one whole week together, my dad asked my mom to marry him. It took my mom a weekend to ponder the proposal, but luckily for my sisters and I, she said "Yes."
Last September, they celebrated their 54th wedding anniversary.
They got married in Panama in 1965. Shortly thereafter, they were transferred to Monterey, CA, where my dad studied Chinese at the Foreign Language Institute.
A year later, my oldest sister Jennyne, was born. Next stop on their Navy adventure was Japan, where I was born.
After 6 years in the Navy, it was time to settle down, so with two little kids in tow, they moved to Bellingham.
They had never been here before, but they chose this town because it met certain criteria: It was on the west coast, had a college for continuing education opportunities, and had less annual rainfall than their second choice, Olympia.
After about a year, they found a little farmhouse on 10 acres on the Kelly Road. While just a few miles north of Bellingham, in 1970 it was way out in the boonies. Their California friends thought they were crazy and even referred to them as the "Waltons."
Soon, my youngest sister, Natalie was born.
Neither my mom or dad had any brothers or sisters. So growing up, we did not have any aunts, uncles or cousins. A Johnson family gathering was my mom, dad, two sisters and myself, and sometimes grandparents would join us. Our family circle was quite small with just the five of us.
My mom and dad's friendship with others spread wide and touched a lot of lives
Our little circle grew to include our family, good friends and neighbors. The line between those terms has always been blurry, because our friends and neighbors have always felt like family to us.
As friends of my mom and dad, Byron made an impact on your life, which is why you are here today. I am sure my dad would be pleased to see you all and would certainly be grateful that he did have so many friends.
Our little family has now grown. Byron was proud to say that he had two daughters, one son, five grandchildren, a daughter-in-law, and two sons-in-law. And our family continues to grow. My nephew Josh is engaged, and he and his fiancé, Callie, came all the way from Georgia to be with us this weekend.
When my parents first moved to Bellingham, my dad got a job in Seattle during the week. My mom would take him to the bus stop in Bellingham on Sunday nights and he would take the bus to Seattle, where he stayed at the YMCA and worked at a Customs brokerage office in downtown Seattle. He found a customs broker job closer to home in Blaine and ended up working with the folks at Border Brokerage Company for several years. In 1984, he struck out on his own and started his own customs brokerage firm. His business required long hours and hard work. My sisters and I learned the value of hard work and responsibility, and that persistence and dedication were two of the requirements for success.
Running a business takes a lot of time and energy. Yet my dad was also active in the brokerage industry and had served as president of the Northern Border Customs Brokers Association for two years. After his last meeting as president of the association, he retired.
After my dad passed away, we received a lot cards, letters and phone calls from people in the brokerage community from all around the country letting us know how sad they were to hear about my dad and how much he had meant to them.
My dad had been retired for over 19 years. Despite the time that had passed, his friendship with them still remained. Many shared their favorite memories that still made them smile after all this time.
My dad had many hobbies and activities he enjoyed.
Skiing:
My family started skiing when I was young. My folks thought it would be a fun thing to do as a family. We had spent many Saturdays at Mt Baker, and several spring break vacations skiing at Whistler or Mt Bachelor down in Oregon. Mom and Dad both chaperoned the Meridian school's ski bus every Saturday for years, even after we had graduated and moved on. Their ski trips took them to British Columbia, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. When dad turned 70, he was now eligible for a Super Senior rate for a seasons pass at Mt. Baker. For less than $150, he could enjoy a year of unlimited skiing. He still bought new skis now and then and even had a seasons pass for this past season.
Tools:
He also liked spending time out in his shop, "puttering around," as he would say.
Dad was always pretty handy at building things. After he retired, he took a woodworking class and became quite a talented woodworker. While he managed to build a beautiful toy box for my son and a few things for my boat, most of his projects were building tool holders, tool cabinets, or things to hold more tools, which, in order to make them, required the purchase of more tools.
Gardening:
Their house on the Kelly Road is out in the county. It has a big lawn and lots of flower beds.
Weeds were his nemesis and he waged a lifelong battle against them. Despite having a lot of flower beds, he and my mom still put in a few more and expanded those they had. This meant more weeds. This was a vicious circle. If that weren't enough, he and my mom volunteered at Assumption parish to maintain the flowerbeds here, planting and pruning trees, bushes, shrubs and taking care of the rose garden. He could go anywhere with his Felco Number 6 pruning shears.
Their old farmhouse out in the country turned into a beautiful home with a yard, flowerbeds and gardens that looks like a park.
My sisters and I think there are no weeds in heaven, so my dad can spend eternity gardening in peace!
Travelling:
My dad traveled a lot. First during the Navy because he had to, then for fun because he could.
If he had a business trip, my mom would often come along. Every fall included a trip to Washington, DC and every February, to escape the cold and snow of the Northern Border, they went somewhere warm and sunny, to places like the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hawaii and Mexico.
They enjoyed boating through the San Juans, the Gulf Islands and even made it all the way up to the Broughton Islands which are about 200 miles north of Vancouver.
In addition to numerous ski trips and cruises, their travels took them to Australia and to New Zealand, where he and my mom went bungee jumping on the 30th anniversary.
They made a few trips to Europe, including two with Fr Scott. These Catholic pilgrimages included the Camino de Santiago in Spain and Lourdes in France.
While he never got to Tahiti like he dreamed about, every fall, he and my mom went to Hawaii for a couple weeks to celebrate their anniversary. This last fall, they were joined by my sister Jennyne and her husband Jeff. Jennyne shared several pictures on Facebook of them at the beach and hiking through the jungle up to waterfall. Always wearing his straw hat. At the ripe old age of 79, my dad was still active and having fun.
As my dad once told my son Oliver, "Everywhere, every day has some interesting adventure waiting to happen. You just have to look for it."
But for all of his travels, and the places he had been, his favorite place on earth was their home on the Kelly Road.
Like our family, their little farmhouse on the Kelly Road grew up, too. They added an addition, more than a few renovations, a new shop and a barn once dubbed "The Cow Palace." Today, a few more things hang on the walls, a bit more "memorabilia" is on shelves and in cabinets.
My parents work on their house taught us to take pride in making a house a home, and making something better than when you found it.
I was fortunate to grow up there and still call it home, even though I haven't lived there in since I graduated from college.
Ordinary Time:
We have in our lives extraordinary days. We celebrate Christmas, Easter, birthdays and anniversaries. But the rest of the year is a regular, ordinary, day. The day in day out, often the daily grind.
As Catholics, we also have the liturgical year that starts with the season of Advent, becomes Christmastime, then ordinary time, followed by Lent, then Easter, then back to ordinary time. Ordinary Time takes up most of the year.
It is the ordinary time, and ordinary days that make up to majority of our lives.
But when we look back on our lives, those ordinary times are often the most special moments
The time we spend with our friends and family.
With the Covid-19 restrictions in place since last March, these days seem like unusual times.
There is quarantine, a lot of restrictions on gatherings, who can come, how many people can be there.
We missed the extraordinary events, like birthday parties, last day of school, graduations, going off to college. We missed sharing in those milestones in person with our family and friends. We also missed the ordinary days and just getting together.
When my dad was in the hospital, we had a family zoom call with him. We were all separated by physical distance, but technology brought us together. We had one last time for the Johnson clan to laugh, tell stories, share our time together. A lot of the stories we shared were about an ordinary time that meant something special to us. My dad passed away later that evening.
I miss him every day. But I do have very fond memories of our time together. His sayings, that we call "Byron-isms", his stories that were often told more than once, and a lot of memories that are special to me will always bring a smile when I think about them.
When dad was ready to leave, whether it was to go somewhere, or a party, or if he just got tired of waiting, he would not wait for a break in the conversation or for an appropriate moment to quietly excuse himself. He would simply stand up and say, "Well folks, it's time to press on."
When his life on earth was coming to an end, it was his time to press on.
Today we celebrate and remember 80 years of ordinary time with a lot of extraordinary events that made up my dad's extraordinary life. We are grateful that we got to share in all those ordinary times with my dad.
Thank you all for being a part of our family circle and joining with my family and me to celebrate the life of Byron. A life that brough joy, happiness and friendship to so many.
I love you, Dad. Thank you.
Byron Johnson, age 80, passed away peacefully in Bellingham on Saturday, April 4, 2020. He was born December 28, 1939 in Los Angeles, CA to Clayton and Frances (Nelson) Johnson. Byron graduated from Mexico City College with a degree in International Business in 1962 and remained fluent in Spanish throughout his lifetime. Byron was a Lieutenant in the United States Navy and served for seven years in Naval Intelligence during the Vietnam War. While stationed in Japan from 1967-1969, Byron learned Mandarin Chinese and used his language skills as a Cryptographer and Interpreter aboard the USS Providence, the Commanding Ship of the 7th Fleet. He married Donna Wahlgren on September 11, 1965 in Panama. Upon retiring from the Navy in 1969, they moved to Bellingham. Byron and Donna were active members in the Meridian School District. Byron was Cub Scoutmaster and PTA president. Together he and Donna ran the fair booth and chaperoned numerous school dances and events, most notably the Meridian ski bus for 15 years. In 1984 Byron founded McClary, Swift & Co., a customs brokerage business in Blaine and was President of the Northern Border Customs Brokers Association for two years. All three of Byron's children graduated from WSU and he was an avid Coug fan. Byron and Donna are members of the Church of the Assumption in Bellingham. Byron enjoyed boating in the San Juans, fishing, skiing, collecting (anything and everything!), gardening at the family home on the Kelly Road for 50 years and most of all, his family. He will be remembered as a loving husband, father and grandfather. Byron was preceded in death by his parents. He is survived by his loving wife of 55 years, Donna, children Jennyne Johnson (Jeff Bates), Mark Johnson (Staci) and Natalie Milligan (Stephen "Spike"), grandchildren Bradley, Joshua, Oliver, Drew, and Rhys, and many loving relatives and friends. In lieu of flowers, memorials in Byron's name may be made to Church of the Assumption, 2116 Cornwall Ave, Bellingham, WA 98225. Mass of Christian Burial will be held at Church of the Assumption at a later date. You may share memories with the family at www.westfordfuneralhome.com. As Byron would say, "There is a great adventure everywhere, you just have to look for it."
*******************************
Eulogy written by his son Mark:
Good morning everyone. I am Mark Johnson. On behalf of my family, I would like to thank you all for being here with us this morning to celebrate the life of my dad, Byron Johnson, and to say goodbye.
My dad was born and raised in Los Angeles. After World War 2, his dad went to the Philippines for work, so he was mostly raised by his mom and grandparents.
After high school and a couple years of junior college in LA, he enrolled in Mexico City College on a scholarship. After two years of living in Mexico, he graduated with a degree in International Trade and had become fluent in Spanish.
After college, he returned to LA and worked for a customs broker.
During this time, the Viet Nam war was going on. Rather than risk getting drafted into the Army, he enlisted in the Navy. He took the Officers Candidate School exam, passed and joined the Navy as an Ensign.
During his time in the Navy, he worked for Naval Intelligence. He was stationed in Panama in the Canal Zone, a time which he referred to as a "three-year paid vacation" which included such adventures as Tropical Survival Training, Jungle Warfare School, and scuba diving.
While stationed in Panama he was granted leave one Easter and returned to California for a short visit. During this brief visit, he met my mom for the first time.
After Easter, he went back to Panama and my mom retuned to Oakland.
His parents and my mom's parents were now neighbors. Later that year, my dad came home for Christmas.
As a favor to his parent's neighbors, he agreed to pick up their daughter from the airport, who was also coming home for Christmas. While they had met once before a few months ago, my mom was given only one instruction, "Look for the man in a military uniform. " This was 1964 during Viet Nam, so there many men were in uniform.
My mom was also born and raised in Los Angeles and grew up a few miles away from my dad. Yet it would take over 20 for years for fate to bring them together. But they did find each other and both thought it was worth the wait.
After one whole week together, my dad asked my mom to marry him. It took my mom a weekend to ponder the proposal, but luckily for my sisters and I, she said "Yes."
Last September, they celebrated their 54th wedding anniversary.
They got married in Panama in 1965. Shortly thereafter, they were transferred to Monterey, CA, where my dad studied Chinese at the Foreign Language Institute.
A year later, my oldest sister Jennyne, was born. Next stop on their Navy adventure was Japan, where I was born.
After 6 years in the Navy, it was time to settle down, so with two little kids in tow, they moved to Bellingham.
They had never been here before, but they chose this town because it met certain criteria: It was on the west coast, had a college for continuing education opportunities, and had less annual rainfall than their second choice, Olympia.
After about a year, they found a little farmhouse on 10 acres on the Kelly Road. While just a few miles north of Bellingham, in 1970 it was way out in the boonies. Their California friends thought they were crazy and even referred to them as the "Waltons."
Soon, my youngest sister, Natalie was born.
Neither my mom or dad had any brothers or sisters. So growing up, we did not have any aunts, uncles or cousins. A Johnson family gathering was my mom, dad, two sisters and myself, and sometimes grandparents would join us. Our family circle was quite small with just the five of us.
My mom and dad's friendship with others spread wide and touched a lot of lives
Our little circle grew to include our family, good friends and neighbors. The line between those terms has always been blurry, because our friends and neighbors have always felt like family to us.
As friends of my mom and dad, Byron made an impact on your life, which is why you are here today. I am sure my dad would be pleased to see you all and would certainly be grateful that he did have so many friends.
Our little family has now grown. Byron was proud to say that he had two daughters, one son, five grandchildren, a daughter-in-law, and two sons-in-law. And our family continues to grow. My nephew Josh is engaged, and he and his fiancé, Callie, came all the way from Georgia to be with us this weekend.
When my parents first moved to Bellingham, my dad got a job in Seattle during the week. My mom would take him to the bus stop in Bellingham on Sunday nights and he would take the bus to Seattle, where he stayed at the YMCA and worked at a Customs brokerage office in downtown Seattle. He found a customs broker job closer to home in Blaine and ended up working with the folks at Border Brokerage Company for several years. In 1984, he struck out on his own and started his own customs brokerage firm. His business required long hours and hard work. My sisters and I learned the value of hard work and responsibility, and that persistence and dedication were two of the requirements for success.
Running a business takes a lot of time and energy. Yet my dad was also active in the brokerage industry and had served as president of the Northern Border Customs Brokers Association for two years. After his last meeting as president of the association, he retired.
After my dad passed away, we received a lot cards, letters and phone calls from people in the brokerage community from all around the country letting us know how sad they were to hear about my dad and how much he had meant to them.
My dad had been retired for over 19 years. Despite the time that had passed, his friendship with them still remained. Many shared their favorite memories that still made them smile after all this time.
My dad had many hobbies and activities he enjoyed.
Skiing:
My family started skiing when I was young. My folks thought it would be a fun thing to do as a family. We had spent many Saturdays at Mt Baker, and several spring break vacations skiing at Whistler or Mt Bachelor down in Oregon. Mom and Dad both chaperoned the Meridian school's ski bus every Saturday for years, even after we had graduated and moved on. Their ski trips took them to British Columbia, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. When dad turned 70, he was now eligible for a Super Senior rate for a seasons pass at Mt. Baker. For less than $150, he could enjoy a year of unlimited skiing. He still bought new skis now and then and even had a seasons pass for this past season.
Tools:
He also liked spending time out in his shop, "puttering around," as he would say.
Dad was always pretty handy at building things. After he retired, he took a woodworking class and became quite a talented woodworker. While he managed to build a beautiful toy box for my son and a few things for my boat, most of his projects were building tool holders, tool cabinets, or things to hold more tools, which, in order to make them, required the purchase of more tools.
Gardening:
Their house on the Kelly Road is out in the county. It has a big lawn and lots of flower beds.
Weeds were his nemesis and he waged a lifelong battle against them. Despite having a lot of flower beds, he and my mom still put in a few more and expanded those they had. This meant more weeds. This was a vicious circle. If that weren't enough, he and my mom volunteered at Assumption parish to maintain the flowerbeds here, planting and pruning trees, bushes, shrubs and taking care of the rose garden. He could go anywhere with his Felco Number 6 pruning shears.
Their old farmhouse out in the country turned into a beautiful home with a yard, flowerbeds and gardens that looks like a park.
My sisters and I think there are no weeds in heaven, so my dad can spend eternity gardening in peace!
Travelling:
My dad traveled a lot. First during the Navy because he had to, then for fun because he could.
If he had a business trip, my mom would often come along. Every fall included a trip to Washington, DC and every February, to escape the cold and snow of the Northern Border, they went somewhere warm and sunny, to places like the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hawaii and Mexico.
They enjoyed boating through the San Juans, the Gulf Islands and even made it all the way up to the Broughton Islands which are about 200 miles north of Vancouver.
In addition to numerous ski trips and cruises, their travels took them to Australia and to New Zealand, where he and my mom went bungee jumping on the 30th anniversary.
They made a few trips to Europe, including two with Fr Scott. These Catholic pilgrimages included the Camino de Santiago in Spain and Lourdes in France.
While he never got to Tahiti like he dreamed about, every fall, he and my mom went to Hawaii for a couple weeks to celebrate their anniversary. This last fall, they were joined by my sister Jennyne and her husband Jeff. Jennyne shared several pictures on Facebook of them at the beach and hiking through the jungle up to waterfall. Always wearing his straw hat. At the ripe old age of 79, my dad was still active and having fun.
As my dad once told my son Oliver, "Everywhere, every day has some interesting adventure waiting to happen. You just have to look for it."
But for all of his travels, and the places he had been, his favorite place on earth was their home on the Kelly Road.
Like our family, their little farmhouse on the Kelly Road grew up, too. They added an addition, more than a few renovations, a new shop and a barn once dubbed "The Cow Palace." Today, a few more things hang on the walls, a bit more "memorabilia" is on shelves and in cabinets.
My parents work on their house taught us to take pride in making a house a home, and making something better than when you found it.
I was fortunate to grow up there and still call it home, even though I haven't lived there in since I graduated from college.
Ordinary Time:
We have in our lives extraordinary days. We celebrate Christmas, Easter, birthdays and anniversaries. But the rest of the year is a regular, ordinary, day. The day in day out, often the daily grind.
As Catholics, we also have the liturgical year that starts with the season of Advent, becomes Christmastime, then ordinary time, followed by Lent, then Easter, then back to ordinary time. Ordinary Time takes up most of the year.
It is the ordinary time, and ordinary days that make up to majority of our lives.
But when we look back on our lives, those ordinary times are often the most special moments
The time we spend with our friends and family.
With the Covid-19 restrictions in place since last March, these days seem like unusual times.
There is quarantine, a lot of restrictions on gatherings, who can come, how many people can be there.
We missed the extraordinary events, like birthday parties, last day of school, graduations, going off to college. We missed sharing in those milestones in person with our family and friends. We also missed the ordinary days and just getting together.
When my dad was in the hospital, we had a family zoom call with him. We were all separated by physical distance, but technology brought us together. We had one last time for the Johnson clan to laugh, tell stories, share our time together. A lot of the stories we shared were about an ordinary time that meant something special to us. My dad passed away later that evening.
I miss him every day. But I do have very fond memories of our time together. His sayings, that we call "Byron-isms", his stories that were often told more than once, and a lot of memories that are special to me will always bring a smile when I think about them.
When dad was ready to leave, whether it was to go somewhere, or a party, or if he just got tired of waiting, he would not wait for a break in the conversation or for an appropriate moment to quietly excuse himself. He would simply stand up and say, "Well folks, it's time to press on."
When his life on earth was coming to an end, it was his time to press on.
Today we celebrate and remember 80 years of ordinary time with a lot of extraordinary events that made up my dad's extraordinary life. We are grateful that we got to share in all those ordinary times with my dad.
Thank you all for being a part of our family circle and joining with my family and me to celebrate the life of Byron. A life that brough joy, happiness and friendship to so many.
I love you, Dad. Thank you.
*******************************
Eulogy written by his son Mark:
Good morning everyone. I am Mark Johnson. On behalf of my family, I would like to thank you all for being here with us this morning to celebrate the life of my dad, Byron Johnson, and to say goodbye.
My dad was born and raised in Los Angeles. After World War 2, his dad went to the Philippines for work, so he was mostly raised by his mom and grandparents.
After high school and a couple years of junior college in LA, he enrolled in Mexico City College on a scholarship. After two years of living in Mexico, he graduated with a degree in International Trade and had become fluent in Spanish.
After college, he returned to LA and worked for a customs broker.
During this time, the Viet Nam war was going on. Rather than risk getting drafted into the Army, he enlisted in the Navy. He took the Officers Candidate School exam, passed and joined the Navy as an Ensign.
During his time in the Navy, he worked for Naval Intelligence. He was stationed in Panama in the Canal Zone, a time which he referred to as a "three-year paid vacation" which included such adventures as Tropical Survival Training, Jungle Warfare School, and scuba diving.
While stationed in Panama he was granted leave one Easter and returned to California for a short visit. During this brief visit, he met my mom for the first time.
After Easter, he went back to Panama and my mom retuned to Oakland.
His parents and my mom's parents were now neighbors. Later that year, my dad came home for Christmas.
As a favor to his parent's neighbors, he agreed to pick up their daughter from the airport, who was also coming home for Christmas. While they had met once before a few months ago, my mom was given only one instruction, "Look for the man in a military uniform. " This was 1964 during Viet Nam, so there many men were in uniform.
My mom was also born and raised in Los Angeles and grew up a few miles away from my dad. Yet it would take over 20 for years for fate to bring them together. But they did find each other and both thought it was worth the wait.
After one whole week together, my dad asked my mom to marry him. It took my mom a weekend to ponder the proposal, but luckily for my sisters and I, she said "Yes."
Last September, they celebrated their 54th wedding anniversary.
They got married in Panama in 1965. Shortly thereafter, they were transferred to Monterey, CA, where my dad studied Chinese at the Foreign Language Institute.
A year later, my oldest sister Jennyne, was born. Next stop on their Navy adventure was Japan, where I was born.
After 6 years in the Navy, it was time to settle down, so with two little kids in tow, they moved to Bellingham.
They had never been here before, but they chose this town because it met certain criteria: It was on the west coast, had a college for continuing education opportunities, and had less annual rainfall than their second choice, Olympia.
After about a year, they found a little farmhouse on 10 acres on the Kelly Road. While just a few miles north of Bellingham, in 1970 it was way out in the boonies. Their California friends thought they were crazy and even referred to them as the "Waltons."
Soon, my youngest sister, Natalie was born.
Neither my mom or dad had any brothers or sisters. So growing up, we did not have any aunts, uncles or cousins. A Johnson family gathering was my mom, dad, two sisters and myself, and sometimes grandparents would join us. Our family circle was quite small with just the five of us.
My mom and dad's friendship with others spread wide and touched a lot of lives
Our little circle grew to include our family, good friends and neighbors. The line between those terms has always been blurry, because our friends and neighbors have always felt like family to us.
As friends of my mom and dad, Byron made an impact on your life, which is why you are here today. I am sure my dad would be pleased to see you all and would certainly be grateful that he did have so many friends.
Our little family has now grown. Byron was proud to say that he had two daughters, one son, five grandchildren, a daughter-in-law, and two sons-in-law. And our family continues to grow. My nephew Josh is engaged, and he and his fiancé, Callie, came all the way from Georgia to be with us this weekend.
When my parents first moved to Bellingham, my dad got a job in Seattle during the week. My mom would take him to the bus stop in Bellingham on Sunday nights and he would take the bus to Seattle, where he stayed at the YMCA and worked at a Customs brokerage office in downtown Seattle. He found a customs broker job closer to home in Blaine and ended up working with the folks at Border Brokerage Company for several years. In 1984, he struck out on his own and started his own customs brokerage firm. His business required long hours and hard work. My sisters and I learned the value of hard work and responsibility, and that persistence and dedication were two of the requirements for success.
Running a business takes a lot of time and energy. Yet my dad was also active in the brokerage industry and had served as president of the Northern Border Customs Brokers Association for two years. After his last meeting as president of the association, he retired.
After my dad passed away, we received a lot cards, letters and phone calls from people in the brokerage community from all around the country letting us know how sad they were to hear about my dad and how much he had meant to them.
My dad had been retired for over 19 years. Despite the time that had passed, his friendship with them still remained. Many shared their favorite memories that still made them smile after all this time.
My dad had many hobbies and activities he enjoyed.
Skiing:
My family started skiing when I was young. My folks thought it would be a fun thing to do as a family. We had spent many Saturdays at Mt Baker, and several spring break vacations skiing at Whistler or Mt Bachelor down in Oregon. Mom and Dad both chaperoned the Meridian school's ski bus every Saturday for years, even after we had graduated and moved on. Their ski trips took them to British Columbia, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. When dad turned 70, he was now eligible for a Super Senior rate for a seasons pass at Mt. Baker. For less than $150, he could enjoy a year of unlimited skiing. He still bought new skis now and then and even had a seasons pass for this past season.
Tools:
He also liked spending time out in his shop, "puttering around," as he would say.
Dad was always pretty handy at building things. After he retired, he took a woodworking class and became quite a talented woodworker. While he managed to build a beautiful toy box for my son and a few things for my boat, most of his projects were building tool holders, tool cabinets, or things to hold more tools, which, in order to make them, required the purchase of more tools.
Gardening:
Their house on the Kelly Road is out in the county. It has a big lawn and lots of flower beds.
Weeds were his nemesis and he waged a lifelong battle against them. Despite having a lot of flower beds, he and my mom still put in a few more and expanded those they had. This meant more weeds. This was a vicious circle. If that weren't enough, he and my mom volunteered at Assumption parish to maintain the flowerbeds here, planting and pruning trees, bushes, shrubs and taking care of the rose garden. He could go anywhere with his Felco Number 6 pruning shears.
Their old farmhouse out in the country turned into a beautiful home with a yard, flowerbeds and gardens that looks like a park.
My sisters and I think there are no weeds in heaven, so my dad can spend eternity gardening in peace!
Travelling:
My dad traveled a lot. First during the Navy because he had to, then for fun because he could.
If he had a business trip, my mom would often come along. Every fall included a trip to Washington, DC and every February, to escape the cold and snow of the Northern Border, they went somewhere warm and sunny, to places like the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hawaii and Mexico.
They enjoyed boating through the San Juans, the Gulf Islands and even made it all the way up to the Broughton Islands which are about 200 miles north of Vancouver.
In addition to numerous ski trips and cruises, their travels took them to Australia and to New Zealand, where he and my mom went bungee jumping on the 30th anniversary.
They made a few trips to Europe, including two with Fr Scott. These Catholic pilgrimages included the Camino de Santiago in Spain and Lourdes in France.
While he never got to Tahiti like he dreamed about, every fall, he and my mom went to Hawaii for a couple weeks to celebrate their anniversary. This last fall, they were joined by my sister Jennyne and her husband Jeff. Jennyne shared several pictures on Facebook of them at the beach and hiking through the jungle up to waterfall. Always wearing his straw hat. At the ripe old age of 79, my dad was still active and having fun.
As my dad once told my son Oliver, "Everywhere, every day has some interesting adventure waiting to happen. You just have to look for it."
But for all of his travels, and the places he had been, his favorite place on earth was their home on the Kelly Road.
Like our family, their little farmhouse on the Kelly Road grew up, too. They added an addition, more than a few renovations, a new shop and a barn once dubbed "The Cow Palace." Today, a few more things hang on the walls, a bit more "memorabilia" is on shelves and in cabinets.
My parents work on their house taught us to take pride in making a house a home, and making something better than when you found it.
I was fortunate to grow up there and still call it home, even though I haven't lived there in since I graduated from college.
Ordinary Time:
We have in our lives extraordinary days. We celebrate Christmas, Easter, birthdays and anniversaries. But the rest of the year is a regular, ordinary, day. The day in day out, often the daily grind.
As Catholics, we also have the liturgical year that starts with the season of Advent, becomes Christmastime, then ordinary time, followed by Lent, then Easter, then back to ordinary time. Ordinary Time takes up most of the year.
It is the ordinary time, and ordinary days that make up to majority of our lives.
But when we look back on our lives, those ordinary times are often the most special moments
The time we spend with our friends and family.
With the Covid-19 restrictions in place since last March, these days seem like unusual times.
There is quarantine, a lot of restrictions on gatherings, who can come, how many people can be there.
We missed the extraordinary events, like birthday parties, last day of school, graduations, going off to college. We missed sharing in those milestones in person with our family and friends. We also missed the ordinary days and just getting together.
When my dad was in the hospital, we had a family zoom call with him. We were all separated by physical distance, but technology brought us together. We had one last time for the Johnson clan to laugh, tell stories, share our time together. A lot of the stories we shared were about an ordinary time that meant something special to us. My dad passed away later that evening.
I miss him every day. But I do have very fond memories of our time together. His sayings, that we call "Byron-isms", his stories that were often told more than once, and a lot of memories that are special to me will always bring a smile when I think about them.
When dad was ready to leave, whether it was to go somewhere, or a party, or if he just got tired of waiting, he would not wait for a break in the conversation or for an appropriate moment to quietly excuse himself. He would simply stand up and say, "Well folks, it's time to press on."
When his life on earth was coming to an end, it was his time to press on.
Today we celebrate and remember 80 years of ordinary time with a lot of extraordinary events that made up my dad's extraordinary life. We are grateful that we got to share in all those ordinary times with my dad.
Thank you all for being a part of our family circle and joining with my family and me to celebrate the life of Byron. A life that brough joy, happiness and friendship to so many.
I love you, Dad. Thank you.
Family Members
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