A Life Well Lived

John was born in Tacoma, Washington on November 7, 1929, to Joseph Kinkella and Eva (Mahoric) Kinkella, and was their youngest son.  He spent his early years in Tacoma, as well as the small town of Granite Falls, Washington.

As a child, John enjoyed fishing in the local rivers with his father and brother, Bill.  He also enjoyed the local wildlife and even had a pet deer.  Under his father's tutelage, he learned all facets of building and construction, including plumbing, carpentry and masonry.  At 13 years old, he was able to install the entire plumbing package for a rental unit by himself!

John attended Clover Park High School, where he excelled in track and showed early signs of talent in art, which would later benefit him in his career as an architect.

John married the love of his life, Eugenia, in 1953, and after a year of being newlyweds, they  decided to begin a family.  They had 2 children, Daniel and Lori, and moved from south Tacoma to Lakewood.  Theirs was a lasting love that culminated this January with a 70th wedding anniversary celebration with their family, including their children, grandchildren and 2 new additions - great grandchildren, Cameron and Nora.

John followed his love of design and construction, and became an architect.  While he worked for several local firms in the Tacoma area early in his career, his main achievement was to open his own practice in Lakewood, Washington.  He was most proud that his son, Dan, followed in his footsteps, working in his office and also becoming an architect.

John remained active in the local Lakewood community, and served as President for the Southwest Washington Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, was a Paul Harris Fellow with the Lakewood Rotarians, member with Lakewood Kiwanis, and member of Tacoma Golf and Country Club, serving for many years on the Entertainment and House and Grounds Committees.

John and Eugenia were fortunate enough to have traveled throughout the world, including visits with their son-in-law's family in England.  One of his favorite trips was driving through Europe, where they were able to see his Kinkella family home in Croatia.  Traveling also included many trips to Phoenix which John dearly loved, and inspired the couple to buy a home there.  Throughout his retirement years John would be excited to go to Arizona where he enjoyed sitting on the patio in the sun, and eating the oranges off of his tree.

John was a devoted family man.  He was the kind of man who made friends easily and kept his friends forever.  Clearly, John was an exceptional man!

John is survived by, and will be dearly missed by, his wife of 70 years, Eugenia, and

children; Dan Kinkella, Lori (Kinkella) Miller and husband, Ken Miller; his grandchildren; Chelsea (Miller) Teague and husband Sean Teague; Ryan Miller and wife Krista Miller; and his great-grandchildren, Cameron Teague and Nora Miller.