Lynne August Johnson

Lynne August Johnson Aprl 3, 1941-Aprl 23, 2011 Lynne was born April 3, 1941 in Tacoma, WA to Arthur and Edith (Breshears) Johnson. He attended Concordia Lutheran School, Parkland Elementary, and Franklin Pierce High School. He logged out of Kapowsin, WA for St. Regis and worked exporting logs for Pan Pacific. It was while logging that he met Julie's brother George who was responsible for introducing them. In 1968 Lynne and Julie were married. The same year he joined the Laborers Union #252 and went to work for Concrete Technology. A year later he began a 30 plus year career as a heavy construction laborer. Lynne worked on just about every big construction job in Pierce County: the Nalley Valley freeway, the Hood Canal Bridge, and also helped build two new schools on the Key Peninsula, Minter and Vaughn Elementary. In 1969 Lynne and Julie bought 5 acres on the Key Peninsula, built a home and a wonderful life together. Their daughter, Kristin Lynn, was born Christmas Eve of 1978, the best present they ever received. She was followed by two more heavenly gifts, sons Zachary and Nicholas. Lynne was a devoted father. Many a night, after a hard days work, Lynne could be found in the backyard catching pitches with the boys. No matter how hard they threw Lynn never said no when they wanted him to play catch. He coached PAA basketball and baseball and Little League Baseball. Nothing made him happier than to watch his boys play baseball. In September of 2000, Lynne and his good friend Dick Callahan both retired from the Laborers Union and began their second career of maintaining all their family members and friends' cars, doing oil changes, replacing brakes, and cutting firewood. They spent many hours in Lynne's garage having a beer and revisiting all the jobs they had worked. He enjoyed his retirement years. He became an avid golfer and golfed whenever the weather permitted. He and friend Rich Lohrman tried numerous golf courses from Ocean Shores to Lake Chelan (while they golfed Julie and Kathy went shopping). Lynne's other loves were fishing and gardening. He and son Zach fished the Puget Sound area several times a week during the salmon season. Lynne said the best day he ever had was the day he got up early, played golf with Nick at McCormick Woods and in the early evening went fishing with Zach. Never afraid of learning something new, Lynne took up the violin in 2003 and continued until his teacher passed away suddenly. He always wanted a bear carving, so being the practical Swede that he was he got out the chainsaw and learned to carve critters. Lynne's many bears, eagles, fish, mushrooms, and one moose can be found in the woods around their home. Lynne was a volunteer firefighter for PCFD 16 for 10 years. He was a charter member of Key Peninsula Lutheran Church and helped build the first church building and was always there when any concrete needed to be poured. He loved his church and his church family. Lynne was the grill master for the community breakfasts. He often cooked 20 pounds of bacon on the grill at a time. Lynne was preceded in death by his daughter Kristin Lynn. He is survived by his wife Julie; sons, Zachary (Monica) and Nicholas; 6 grandchildren, Korina, Samantha, Alisha, Bryce, PJ and Ethan; sister, Artha Durham, a nephew, a niece, and three aunts. The family would like to thank the Key Peninsula Fire Department and Local 3152, the staff of St. Anthony's Infusion Center, Dr. Oliveira and the staff of NW medical Specialties, and Franciscan Hospice. A Celebration of Life service will be held on Saturday, April 30th at 1:00 pm a Key Peninsula Lutheran Church, Lakebay, WA. Memorial donations can be made to Key Peninsula Lutheran Church P.O. Box 219, Lakebay, WA 98349. Please sign Lynne's online guestbook at www.havenrest. com.