Gaylord Eugene Johnson

When Gaylord Johnson peacefully slipped away at age 91, our family, our community, and our country lost a decent, honest, hard-working, caring man at a time when we need all we can get of those qualities.

This Wisconsin farm boy never missed a chance to expand his horizons or help a neighbor. Gaylord got to see the world from a Navy ship and was blessed with two wives who loved him and kept him strong. He equipped his four sons with values and practical skills and he never stopped reading and learning.

While still in the Navy, Gaylord met bright, vivacious Byrl Osward in Brooklyn, NY and they married in 1952. Gaylord and Byrl were a powerful, tightly-bonded couple, each contributing valuable skills and devotion and sharing a strong faith. They raised and fed their boys (Jack, Alan, Glen, and Eric) on Byrl's part-time bookkeeping jobs and Gaylord's work driving trucks and delivering everything from milk, to bread, to potato chips, to cookies, to gravel and asphalt for Kitsap County Roads. Gaylord also loved selling real estate around Kitsap County.

Gaylord and Byrl's retirement years together were cut short in 1998, when Byrl died of ALS, leaving Gaylord bereft. Having lost his personal angel, then Gaylord got his second godsend when long-time friend, the recently-widowed Mabel Suldan came along. Gaylord and Mabel married in 1999 and lived happily on the little Berry Lake Road farm that, since the 1960's, Gaylord treasured and tended.

After six decades of tough jobs, home improvements, hunting, fishing, and golfing, Gaylord began to experience one health problem after another. Each slowed him a bit, but Gaylord refused to stop taking care of his farm or give up his independence. With his Norwegian hard-headedness, Gaylord even insisted, through his last days, on keeping the lawn mowed at the Port Orchard First Christian Church, where he was a member and elder for fifty years.

Having built a fine, loving family, a dedicated network of friends and admirers, and countless beneficiaries of his good works, Gaylord Johnson leaves this world a better place for his time in it.