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John K. Talmage
Memorial Service
Date:
Saturday
May 22, 2010
Time: 2:00 PM
Place:
Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship
1708 "I" Street in Bellingham
Born April 16, 1924 to Kenyon and Leona Talmage in Juneau, Alaska, when it was still a territory. He was the second of four children. He had a brother seven years older, a sister one year younger, and a brother seven years younger. He attended grade school and high school in Juneau and thought highly of his schooling there, with special interest in Latin and science. He was also on the school tumbling team. He and many of the other children carried guns to school for protection against wild animals. He hunted and fished extensively for food. He also has odd jobs at an early age for the local newspaper, butcher; and the game commission. His father died while John was in high school. He was drafted into the army in 1943 and served as a medic in the Aleutian Islands. His army career was cut short and he had a medical discharge at Christmas of that year, but the experience had a profound affect on his life. He moved to Washington State, where his mother and younger siblings had moved for safety during the war. He assumed responsibility for the family as his older brother was in the military. Hi minister suggested he pursue a career in the ministry and he used hi GJ. Bill to move with his mother, sister, and brother to Fremont, Nebraska to attend Midland College, a Lutheran Seminary. Money ran low at the same time he left the church, so they all returned to Washington. He soon went to work at what would become AdvancedElectronics, and stayed there until the store closed when he was sixty years old. During this time in his life he married and became a stepfather to five children, most of them almost grown; Linda, Bonnie, Peggy, Jim, and Debbie, and he continued to call them his family for the rest of his life. He also had a cottage industry, making and selling printed circuit boards, for several years. He was deeply involved in photography and was a member of the Borderline Camera Club for years. He volunteered for the Sheriff Department cataloguing photos and also for the Department of Social and Human Services, where he supervised non-custodial parents' visits with their children. He married Eve in 1990 when he was 66 years old, acquiring two more stepdaughters, Alice and Mary. They managed Chuckanut Square for a few years and bought their house on C Street, where they lived for fourteen years. This house was the hub of non-stop activity, including entertaining on the deck, hosting dinners, playing music, baking large quantities of cookies, doing drawing and painting in the studio, n:taking small decorative scenes to display, and reading from John's extensive library. He and Eve moved to the Woodway Inn and then last June to Woodrose Apartments, where John continued to do those activities that he was able to, including B.S. sessions with the guys at the complex and attending plays at the Bellingham Theater Guild. John was muscular and strong and had a great sense of balance. He delighted in finding different uses for found items and was a bit of a pack rat. He loved cats and read voraciously and eclectically from his non-fiction library. He would not eat cheese but did love the spaghetti at Cascade Pizza. He never learned to drive a car. He loved to entertain, and he was an essential part of preparing for the parties he and Eve hosted. He was a member of the Whatcom Art Guildfor several years and more recently was a member of Bellingham Music Club. He could never understand anybody complaining about being bored as he himself could always find a host of fun things to do. He loved to go for rides and especially loved the Skagit Valley. He died January 20th of this year, preceded in death by his parents, older brother and sister. He is survived by his wife Eve; his younger brother Willis and seven stepchildren.
Arranged by Moles Family Funeral Homes & Crematory
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