JOHN HARLOW BACKUS

Reverend Canon John Backus The Reverend Canon John Harlow Backus was born July 25th, 1938 in Greenwood, South Dakota to Bill and Joyce Backus. He is survived by brother, Jim, sons Sukru, Roman, Rodrigo, Ahmet, and Gliden, nephew Dean and nieces Sara and Emily and many cousins. The family moved to Seattle in 1942 and John grew up there, graduating from Lincoln High School in 1956. He attended the University of Washington for 2 years and transferred to Grinnell College in Iowa, where he graduated in 1960. John then spent three years teaching in Greece. He returned to the U.S. in 1963 and attended the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, CA. He was ordained an Episcopalian priest in 1965. He then served as Deacon at St. Andrews Seattle, and was chaplain at Charles Wright Academy in Tacoma, WA from 1969 to 1973. In 1973 he attended Oxford University to obtain a Doctorate of Divinity. He never quite got around to paring down his PhD thesis from 700 plus pages to the requested 350. John was not known for his brevity or timeliness. Upon completion of his studies, at the Archbishop of Canterbury's request, John served as his representative to the head of the Greek Orthodox Church, the Patriarch of Constantinople. John's mastery of languages (Greek, Turkish, Russian, passable French and Spanish) certainly helped in furthering his impressive career. Since his return to the U.S. in 1978, John has been the rector of 3 churches, the last being Church of the Good Shepherd in NY, NY from 1992-2003. He retired to Quilcene, WA in 2003 and spent the remainder of his life traveling around the world, visiting old friends and making new ones. He continued to teach theology and had planned to return to the Episcopal Seminary in Hong Kong in January. John died of a heart attack while visiting dear friends in St. Moritz. His greatest passions outside the church were his friends and family, and the occasional Cuban cigar. He will be missed by countless people.