John William Zevenbergen, Sr.

John William Zevenbergen, of Edmonds, WA passed away peacefully with family at his side on November 23, 2010 after a long, hard fought battle with cancer.John (Zev) was born to Kate and John William Zevenbergen in the Dutch community of Lynden, Washington on September 19, 1926. He was baptized at the First Reform Church of Lynden and spoke Dutch until he learned English in kindergarten. His early years were spent in Lynden where his family owned and operated the largest chicken farm in the Northwest. Throughout his life John referred to Lynden as Gods country.Due to hard times, the family moved to Bremerton where John finished high school at night while working in the Puget Sound Naval shipyard. In 1945 John decided to join the Navy, but had to slouch during the physical to get his 66 frame under the height limit. The slouching was in vain, however, because WWII ended shortly after he finished boot camp, and being honorably discharged he returned to Bremerton.While back in Bremerton, John met Elaine Alida Pappas when he was singing bass in a group and she was accompanying them on the piano. Although both John and Elaine were engaged to other people at the time, there was no stopping love at first sight and they were married six months later in 1950. They raised 7 children together and were married for almost 60 years. John was extremely devoted to Elaine and took care of her at their home until her death from advanced Alzheimers.John and Elaine passed on a shared passion for music to many of their children and grandchildren. John was said to be happiest when he was singing in his quartet or the church choir. His love for music did not come without talent, it was said that when John sang Danny Boy there wouldnt be a dry eye in the house. Even though John loved music, his education went in a different direction and he graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Washington with a degree in Electrical Engineering in 1952. Following graduation John moved his family to California taking an engineering position with Hewlett Packard Company. Knowing that he did not want to make a career as a bench engineer, John moved the family to North Carolina in 1957 working as the HP representative for Bivins Caldwell. He enjoyed and made many friends in the South, but Elaine was too far from family. In1958 the family moved back to Seattle where John was a research engineer for Boeing on the Minute Man program.In 1959, John left Boeing to join John Fluke Mfg Co as Marketing Vice President. He truly loved sales. John enjoyed the travel, the food and the excitement of closing a big sale. He rose from his marketing position to General Manager, and then to President. John was instrumental in guiding the Company through the 70s and into the 80s until he took early retirement in 1982. While at Fluke, he made life long friends and fishing buddiesAs much as he loved to travel (he flew more than a million air miles), the Pacific Northwest was home. He enjoyed fishing, crabbing, clamming and just being with his family at their cabin on Whidbey Island. Annually, he took his family to La Push for extended fishing trips and camping in Mora State park. He was a sports fan, rooting for Seattle teams through thick and thin. His favorites were always the teams that his children and grandchildren played on, attending as many games as possible.John was a loving husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather and a good friend. He is now home with his Lord and Savior where he joins his loving wife, who preceded him last year. He is also preceded by his parents and older brother, William. He is survived by his three daughters, Nancy (Timothy Bryant), Jan (Daniel Case), and MariAnne (Michael Russell), four sons, Stephen (Kristi), John (Nancy), David (Stacie), and Phillip (Kari), 22 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren, with three more on the way. Announcement: Memorial donations, in lieu of flowers, may be made to University Presbyterian Church or Crista Ministries, 19303 Fremont Avenue North, Seattle WA 98133.