John Spriggs' Obituary
John lived 63 years, but he drew so much out of every moment, it seemed more like three lifetimes. His was a spirit of adventure and dreams, and he forged those dreams into reality through a work ethic he learned from his father. He captured every day’s light, and shaped his and his loved one’s lives into more than they could have thought possible.
John was born to Dorsel and Lola Spriggs on August 26th, 1952 in the shadow of the pine-mantled hills of Corvallis, Oregon. His parents brought him home to his sister Donna. Later the birth of John’s younger sister Neoma graced the family.
The Spriggs’ simple beginnings held a great wealth—the love they had for each other. John grew up in the warmth of his mother’s kindness and his father’s attention. First a logger in Harlan, Oregon and then working long hours for Bonneville Power, Dorsel faithfully made time to take John fishing, hunting, and teach him the essentials in life, including a logger’s work ethic and a Navy Veteran’s discipline.
Dorsel’s job required the family to move all over the Pacific Northwest. John would often say with pride, “I went to twelve different schools in twelve years.” Where some might have faltered, John turned this challenge into the ability to create friendships in a heartbeat. He was comfortable with country folks, native people, state officials, and military commanders.
Growing up in remote locations where replacement auto parts and money to buy supplies were scarce John developed a mechanical resourcefulness, which he took to Vietnam when he enlisted in the Navy. There he served as a Plane Captain on the U.S.S. Enterprise where he was the final set of eyes on all mechanical aspects of his jet before giving a salute to the pilot for takeoff.
When not deployed on the Enterprise, which would be for months at a time, he taught hydraulics to new Navy personnel. John took great pride in his service and his time on the Enterprise, yet his stories of those days at sea were never tales of heroics. Instead, with humor, he would tell grandchildren of how he was blown off the flight deck by a jet blast during night operations. He landed in the safety netting where he stayed for hours until the noise of takeoff and landings ceased.
During his first year of Navy service, he married Susan Passmore in Newport, Oregon. Three years later their first son Jason was born. After six years of Navy service, John returned his new family to the edge of the Pacific Ocean in Oregon where the Spriggs family grew yet again, with the birth of second son Justin.
During his life, John was driven by a vision which began with his father’s foreman Bob Witzig, who had a beautiful home and an airplane. John worked hard toward that dream settling his family in a comfortable home, buying a Cherokee 180 aircraft with a coworker, and earning his private pilot’s license. However, not all paths are smooth. In a few years, John and Susan agreed to go their separate ways.
John began the next great adventure of his life by leaving a secure job at the Georgia Pacific paper mill in Toledo, OR to pursue a college degree. In 1992 he graduated from Oregon State University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Environmental Health.
Loving to share the vision of his life with others, he married Barbara Spriggs in 1994 in Seattle, WA, expanding his family even further with the addition of step-children Jennifer and Jason Bond. Barbara, a pilot as well, proved an excellent partner to share his dreams. As their marriage began, they found themselves 30 miles above of the Arctic Circle in Kotzebue, Alaska where John began as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Public Health Service as an Environmental Health and Injury Prevention Specialist. There he fulfilled many key functions to support the health and welfare of native villages from teaching people how to keep their water systems running during the extreme winters to giving over three hundred sled dogs rabies vaccines each year. During this time he was awarded the “Environment Health Sanitarian of the Year” by the Alaska Environmental Health Association.
He also developed many close friendships among his coworkers and the native population. Diving head-first into the arctic life, he asked Tony Jones, a native Alaskan from Buckland, to teach him to build a traditional hickory dog sled by hand. When Tony arrived, John asked him where his plans for the sled were. Tony pointed to his head and said, “They’re right here. My grandpa taught me.” John’s down to earth attitude, quick wit, and caring nature earned him fast and sure rapport with the native villagers. His greatest success was his ability to arrive as an official of the U.S. government and leave as a close friend.
From Kotzebue John and Barbara moved to Ukiah, California where John continued his career. His work then took him to Port Angeles, Washington where he fulfilled and perhaps surpassed his early vision. While in Kotzebue he and Barbara had purchased a small home on San Juan Island, and John convinced an award winning architect, who did not do renovations, to transform the simple house into a beautiful island getaway with a view of the blue waters of the Straits of Juan de Fuca. Living on San Juan Island, John commuted across the straits to work in a Cessna 150, which he and Barbara had purchased in Michigan and together flew over the Rocky Mountains to their home in Friday Harbor, Washington.
In 2001 John completed a Master’s Degree in Public Health from Loma Linda University, which he earned while working full-time for the U.S.P.H.S.
In 2002 the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium called on him for his expertise. They needed a tribal utility coordinator to work with villages statewide, and he and Barbara moved back to Alaska, where they built a new home in Eagle River. During this stage of his career, he developed the Alaska Rural Utility Cooperative or ARUC (ay-ruck), which was a tremendous success affecting 27 villages and impacting over 9,000 native Alaskans. He wrote two books on the subject of rural utilities in tribal villages: How to Start a Utility Collaborative & Running the Utility Collaborative. Due to the success of the program, he was asked to present across the U.S. and in Canada, and everyone in his office called him ‘the father of the ARUC’. Due to his impact on the health and welfare of the people of Alaska, he was awarded the Sanitarian of the Year for the second time, and was promoted to the rank of Captain/06.
While working in Anchorage, John and Barbara began dreaming of a vacation home. When John found a million dollar property with a runway on the Kenai River, he told his wife it was perfect for their log home. When she argued that they didn’t have a million dollars, John told her it wouldn’t be a problem; he would convince the owner to subdivide the property, creating a private runway community… and he did. John created his opportunities rather than waiting for them.
When the bright-windowed log home was completed, John loved nothing more than to weekend there, floating the Kenai’s broad water and fishing in the late light of the Alaska summer. As was his way, he shared this home with his father, mother, and sister where they spent many years living among wild beauty. On the property, family and friends helped build a hangar, which housed something very special—a blue and gray 1948 Cessna 170, which John and Barbara bought in Florida, and flew across the lower 48, Canada, and home to Alaska. John dearly loved flying, and that beautiful taildragger was the fulfillment of a lifetime’s quest.
Again, called to support the native communities, John spent his last year with the U.S.P.H.S. in Kotzebue where he had begun.
In the final days of his career, doctors discovered the cancer he’d faced in 2008 had returned. As was John’s way, he fought valiantly for more than two years to stay with family and friends. Despite hardships, John made the most of those days. He spent two more summers in Alaska, and travelled to Hawaii, Oregon and Idaho. His fight brought him two more Christmases, countless birthdays, and time to share with friends and family.
John’s greatest qualities included a deep sense of graciousness. He lived with honor, and was true to his word. A born story teller, John’s rich laugh often filled whatever space he found himself in, warming those around him as he told stories of their childhood pet skunk ‘Smokey Joe’, ‘The String Man’ of Kivalina, Alaska, fish he’d caught which grew in size with every telling, and his love for the Hawaiian islands. From flying, fishing, to travel John loved lifting others up more than anything. A born teacher, he took kids flying, taught them to fish, told jokes to people he’d just met, and without a doubt, illuminated people’s lives.
In the early hours of October 24th, 2015, John passed peacefully from this Earth surrounded as he was at birth, by loving family. He leaves behind a legacy which is captured so well by his epitaph—
HIS VISION TRANSFORMED OUR LIVES
John is survived by his wife, Barbara Spriggs of Lakewood, WA; his parents, Dorsel and Lola Spriggs of Gig Harbor, WA; his two sons, Jason (Kessa) Spriggs of Albany, Oregon, Justin Spriggs of Portland, Oregon; his sisters Neoma (David) Phair of Auburn, Washington, Donna Spriggs of Gig Harbor, WA; three nieces, Jenna, Abby, and Savannah Phair; and two step-children Jennifer and Jason Bond; four grandchildren, Nicole, Natalie, and Jaxxen Spriggs, and Bruce Bond; and Holly his border collie.
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