La Conner Weekly News - Your independent hometown award-winning newspaper

John Martin Strother

July 2, 1940 – Jan. 8, 2024

John Martin Strother was born July 2, 1940 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to David and Margaret Strother. He peacefully passed away in Lawrence, Kansas on January 8, 2024. He had two siblings; Jo Strother Frentzel and Anthony Strother, both who have already passed. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in Business and shortly thereafter began his career in sales and marketing. John volunteered for the Navy during Vietnam and applied to Officers Candidate School (OCS) where he proudly joked that he aced the entrance exam despite being completely hung over from the night before. While in Vietnam, his son David was born in San Diego, California and later his daughter Tammie. Following his service in the war, John joined Proctor and Gamble, and moved the family to Atlanta, Georgia, where his daughter Emily was born.

The family moved to Phoenix, Arizona where he was the Director of Marketing for Advanced Diagnostic Research (ADR), a pioneer in the ultrasound imaging business. He continued his career in the medical distribution field in Denver, Colorado where he met his second wife, Mimi. John and Mimi later moved to Seattle, Washington for John to work for ATL (Advanced Technology Laboratories) where he was Vice President of International Sales and Marketing. In 1990 he left ATL and together with Mimi built a successful Real Estate business which they ran for over two decades.

John was an avid outdoorsman and environmentalist who relished time hiking, backpacking, and sea kayaking. He actively volunteered for several local environmental causes and was a founding member of Denny Creek Alliance, an organization focused on the restoration of the watersheds around Finn Hill on Lake Washington. He especially enjoyed the beautiful waters of Puget Sound and retired to La Conner, Washington which offered him unlimited access to the San Juan Islands which he liked to explore in his sea kayak and Grand Banks Motor Yacht. He especially loved La Conner for the wonderful friends and neighbors he made and his ability to walk everywhere.

In 2014 Mimi and John settled in Lawrence, Kansas to be closer to Mimi's daughter, Kate Danon. John was an avid birder and was known to keep numerous bird feeders filled around his yard in order to attract as many birds as possible. He also loved dogs and lived his entire life with at least one. John had a great sense of humor and was quick to make a joke or poke fun at himself. 

John is survived by his wife Mimi, his children from his first marriage, David and Emily, his daughter Tammie Lumley, and Mimi's children Tanner Woodland and Kate Danon as well as 5 grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

A service to spread John's ashes will be held this summer in La Conner, Washington. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Parkinson's Foundation.