John Paul Grisham

John Paul Grisham peacefully passed from this world on December 2, 2018. Born on November 20, 1935 as the only child to Vern Paul Grisham and Dimple Daphne (Underwood) Grisham, John was raised in the idyllic small town of Cape Girardeau, Missouri. A true Tiger, John graduated from University of Missouri, Columbia and the Dental school at the University of Missouri, Kansas City. He followed his father’s footsteps and entered the US Navy in 1962, serving a distinguished 30 year career, and attaining the rank of Captain before retiring in 1991. While in the Navy, John earned a Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Oral Diagnosis. He served his country by ensuring the health of thousands of Navy personnel aboard the icebreaker USS Staten Island (AGB-5), aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CVS-10), naval bases in Japan, Italy, and the United States. Following retirement, he embarked on a second career at Community Health Centers of King County (now HealthPoint) applying his knowledge and experience to help build new dental clinics for communities in King County, improving access for underserved communities, before retiring a second time in 2001. John married the love of his life, Jeannie (Jacklin) Grisham on July 4th 1965. They spent nearly 54 years of marriage in love raising their three children - Jill Jacklin Ross of Portland, Oregon, Jennifer Jean (Jena) Marks of Tacoma, Washington, and John Paul (Jay) Grisham, Jr., of Portland, Oregon. He loved teaching his four grandchildren Clayton Ross, Duncan Marks, Gavin Ross, and Jesse Marks about naval history and how to be proper, upstanding young men. John was an avid reader throughout his life and had an impressive collection of leather-bound and first editions of the classics. He was particularly fond of Fitzgerald, Twain and Woulk. He enjoyed sharing his passion for travel and photography with good friends and family. An ardent photographer, he chronicled memories of worldwide travel with dear friends and family. He enjoyed various family members reading some of his favorite works aloud to him over the last weeks as he made his journey over the horizon, with fair winds and following seas. Captain Grisham will be buried at Tahoma National Cemetery with full military honors at 14:00 on December 26, 2018. Memorial contributions may be made to The Navy Marine Corps Relief Fund, Health Point or Franciscan Hospice.