John Robert Gleadle

John Robert GleadleHe was born May 28, 1941, in Kingston-upon-Hull, East Yorkshire, England to William Cyril and Stella Mary Gleadle.

John married the love of his life, Joan Gray in 1961 and had a son, Ian David in 1961, followed by daughter, Christine Heidi in 1965.

His technical engineering education and experience in stress analysis led to an offer from The Boeing Company in 1967 and John moved his young family to America to begin his 39-year career at Boeing. John was particularly proud of his involvement in the design work, factory support and flight-test on the 747-100 wing structure. Also, "The Drag Brace Support Fitting" for the 767-200 was nicknamed "The Gleadle Fitting" by Boeing engineers and vendors.

He never failed to look up whenever an airplane passed overhead and could always name the make and model.

John and Joan made their home and raised their family in Woodinville, Wash., for 35 years.

In 2003, they moved to their current home on Camano Island, overlooking the Sound and the Olympics.

John retired from Boeing in 2006 and spent his retirement days exploring the island, enjoying time with his family, gardening and home building projects.

He loved being by the water and was constantly looking out at sea to watch for whales and eagles and he especially enjoyed his Alaskan fishing trip in 2008.

John was passionate about Jaguar cars and was a hands-on mechanic on his own Jaguars.

His pride and joy was a 1971 Series III E-Type Coupe V-12 that he had in the final stages of restoration.

He served as president of the Jaguar Drivers and Restorers Club of NW America for three terms, was the NW regional representative for two years and took an active role as chief judge at Concours events.

John is survived by Joan, his wife of 49 years; son, Ian (Linda) of Camano Island; daughter, Chris Sandifer (Todd) of Machias and five loving grandchildren, Nicole, Brian, Ryan, Kyle and Sydney. His dog, Katie, brought him love and joy as well.

A celebration of life will be held on Saturday, December 18, at 2 p.m. at the Camano Island Senior Center, 606 Arrowhead Road on Camano Island.

Remembrances may be made to Providence Cancer Care Center, 1717-13th Street, Everett, Washington 98201.