John Burt Vrieling

John Burt Vrieling, 100, of Sequim, Washington, passed away peacefully in his sleep on Sept. 3, 2026, just a little more than a month before his 101st birthday.

John was born Oct. 11, 1925, in Everett, Washington, to Gerrit and Jennie Vrieling. He was one of eight children. Three of his siblings, Janet Lenssen, Lori Hunt, and Gerry Vrieling, survive him.

At just 17 years old, John enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II, serving his country for three years. It was an early example of the independence and determination that would characterize him throughout his long life.

John spent more than 40 years in Moses Lake, Washington, selling life insurance and helping families with estate planning. He became deeply involved in the community he called home. For most of those years, he was a member of the Moses Lake Rotary Club, serving two years as its president and receiving the Paul Harris Fellow recognition. He also served for many years as a deacon at the Presbyterian Church in Moses Lake.

John was married to Bonnita May Matter for nearly 40 years, until her death at the age of 60. Together they raised four children: Gregory Val Vrieling, Augusta Lynn Bradford, Mark Alan Vrieling, and Jon Scott Vrieling. Augusta preceded her father in death.

John later married Evelyn “Evie” Fransteen of Edwall, Washington, beginning a second great chapter of his life that would last 36 years. John also welcomed Evie’s three children from her previous marriage, Lynette, Greg and Larry Vehrs, into his extended family. His family eventually grew to include 14 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

John and Evie loved to travel the world together. But more than the places they visited, they simply loved being with one another. They were nearly inseparable, sharing a deep companionship and love that remained at the center of John’s life.

John loved to cook and spent years working on his own recipe book. He loved gardening, working outdoors and taking care of the things he planted and watched grow.

As a young man, John could be serious, but as the years passed, another side of him emerged. He became increasingly jovial, affectionate and quick to laugh. He loved dad jokes and possessed the remarkable ability – or perhaps unfortunate ability, depending on whom you asked – to turn almost any statement into a pun.

Perhaps the best way to understand John was that he never gave up on life. Growing older never seemed to convince him that he should stop doing the things he wanted to do. In his late 80s, he drove halfway across the country to pick up a classic wooden Chris-Craft boat, brought it home, and restored it himself. At 90, he packed up a lifetime’s worth of possessions and moved himself and Evie from Moses Lake to Sequim, Washington, deciding that after all those years they had endured enough of the harsh Moses Lake winters.

That determination stayed with John throughout his long life. He kept looking forward, kept finding projects, kept laughing, and kept enjoying the people around him.

John treasured his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, but the person he most loved spending his time with was Evie. Even after 36 years together, they remained devoted to one another.

John lived for more than a century, but the measure of his life wasn’t simply its remarkable length. It was what he did with those years: building a family, serving his community, working hard, traveling the world, planting gardens, restoring boats, telling terrible jokes and, above all, loving the people who shared his life.

He never gave up on life, and he never stopped living it.