There is a more esteemed position that supersedes friend and mentor. If it was a relative, you'd probably call it father, but when it's not, it is a person who makes your life whole, gives you support and opens doors that you didn't even know were there. John Iverson was such a person and his sudden passing leaves a huge void in the hearts of all who knew him well.John was a true Seattle native, born here of immigrant parents, graduated from Roosevelt High School and the University of Washington, joined a prestigious local law firm and embedded himself into the community, eventually becoming president of Downtown Rotary, the world's largest Rotary Club...or so he told me, every time he would ask me to join.
When I first touched ground in Seattle in the 1960's, I felt like a pioneer. The city was still relishing the surge of power it experienced from the World's Fair. It was discovering itself all over.again. Except for living in DC and meeting ;Jane there while I was in college, I had never lived anywhere longer than a year throughout my father's career as an army officer. Our college friends thought I'd lost my mind picking up stakes and moving to the edge of the earth and Jane wasn't too sure about me either.
By the 70's,our beachhead was at K2 Skis and JanSport backpacks. They were home plate for us. Gordon Bowker, who with his talented partner Terry Heckler, was behind the award-winning Rainier Beer, K2 and JanSport ads, introduced me to the intricacies of Seattle marketing, He had not yet been to Italy to discover the benefits of whole bean coffee which later inspired him to open a coffee shop called Starbucks; Bill Gates was just getting ready for high school and Eddie Vedder was excited about starting kindergarten. My contacts were few and far between...until Indiana/DC friend Bill Ruckelshaus pointed us to Jean Ehrlichman, on the way back from DC herself. Jean was involved with the opera which was starting a new ballet company and the president of the ballet board was a young lawyer named John Iverson.
He was a friend to all.. As odd as it seemed (until you heard him sing) he was a music major in his undergrad days. In fact, his beautiful tenor voice had him singing all over town professionally and paying his way through law school. One of my favorite memories is from a weekend barbeque on Whidbey Island when I told John that my mother named me Daniel because she loved the song Danny Boy. His acapella version outside in the fresh salt air with the sun going down still brings a tear to my eye.
Whether it was taking a picnic lunch and hiking to Ebey's Landing, eating waffles at the county fair, making us orphans with no family nearby feel at home on Thanksgiving, putting up with my tippy-toe jokes during the ballet (he always had the seat right in front of me) or shaking up one of the best Manhattans that Jane has ever had, John loved life...all of it.I'm not alone in these thoughts and memories. John had more friends than most of us can find...even on facebook. And I mean real friends. There is a difference, you know. His family was his pride and joy though. His amazing wife Marli and sons Jans and Dane feel the loss more than any of us can imagine. Our hearts go out to them.
For a couple of young pioneers from the east coast like Jane and me, meeting up with John Iverson was like seeing Chief Sealth beckoning us to the shore. Everyone should be so lucky when they make a life-changing move. After a decades-long relationship,friend and mentor he was but that's not enough. John Iverson was all that is good about the Pacific Northwest. A prince of a man. Rest in peace, John. You'll always be in our hearts.
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