John Lake
September 1, 1944 - August 1, 2022
Obituary
John Lake was as wonderful of a father, grandfather, husband, son, brother (through birth and marriage), as he was a friend or mentor. Throughout his life he was kind, fun and generous with both his heart and his time. He affected lives of youth and adults alike in his friendly, cheerful, and encouraging approach. He greatly enjoyed spending time getting to know people and relished opportunities to chat, play a game of cribbage or cards, or take on most any adventure if it meant talking with family or friends.
John was not a single career person, but morphed with the times. From his earliest days of working for the Roosevelt Pharmacy, to working in his Uncle’s mechanic shop to working at the Seattle World’s Fair, he was finding ways to interact and brighten people’s days. When he started into the more serious businesses, he worked for years as a mechanic and service station owner while also fitting in ski instructing and helping build and establish a ski school system up at Snoqualmie Pass. Next, he spent many years in radio through sales and then station management. Later he shifted toward computers dealing in sales, and then store and regional management followed up by teaching and IT consulting.
Throughout all of this, he volunteered in many capacities within the community. Early on he assisted youth through University Presbyterian Church and went on to assist the Everett community through outreach events and when flooding hit the valleys of Everett. He helped build play structures and engaged in any other school needs and events. When his kids, grandkids, or the neighborhood kids showed an interest in an activity, he would help make that activity happen from coaching to refereeing to serving on boards to administration of tournaments and events to just plain cheering. He devoted nights, weekends, early (4 am!) mornings, and many days to youth baseball, soccer and swimming. In his later years, he became the Santa Claus to community children and his grandkids. Throughout life, when someone had a dream, he tried to help fulfill it. He loved life and those that met him loved him.
As a family we will always remember his smile, twinkle in his eye and laugh as well as his ongoing love for each and every one of us – his wife, Carol, and his kids and their spouses, Heather & Everet and David & Meghan, as well as his treasured grandchildren – Huck, Finn, Ainsley and Harper.
