Sequim Irrigation Festival

John Jarvis lives on the 80 acre farm his grandparents started on Finn Hall Road in the 1920’s.  His parents, Ero and Olga, moved to Sequim in the late 1920’s, and John was born in 1931.  He has one sister, Nancy, born in 1939.  In those days the area was a Finnish settlement, and now John is one of the last of Finnish descent in the area.  He remembers a lot of dances and parties at the Finnish Hall, which was active until the mid-1950’s. 

John attended first grade at Macleay School in 1937, which was the last year that Macleay was a school before consolidating with Sequim.  John was a train bearer for 1939 Irrigation Festival Queen Dorothy Bell when he was in the 2nd grade.   

John played football in high school, as well as baseball and track.  After graduating from Sequim High School in 1949, John attended Washington State University for one year before joining the Navy and serving in the Korean War. He returned to WSU following his discharge and majored in dairy husbandry.  Family circumstances necessitated his return to the farm in Sequim before graduating.  

John met Carmen Stence when he was home on leave from the Navy.  They were married in 1956 following his discharge.  They have one daughter, Susan Bliven, and one granddaughter, Jonel Lyons, who lives in the original loghouse on the farm with her grandparents. 

John purchased the farm, cows and equipment from his parents in 1956.  Starting with 30 cows they grew the farm to about 100 cows before getting out of the dairy business in 1986.  They then got into the beef cattle business, and now have about 60 beef cattle, and some chickens.  Over the years their farm has been on the Farm Tour three or four times, the last time in 2008.  They are working with the Friends of the Fields to establish a conservation agreement that could ensure that it will stay a farm forever. 

In addition to farming, John also worked for the Port Angeles Post Office for about 12 years, starting as a substitute and becoming a full time rural route carrier for 5 years.  He is a member of the “Over the Hill Gang”, a group of men who gather monthly to reminisce. John used to do a lot of hunting and fishing.  He is interested in stamp collecting, model airplanes and HO model trains.  He is a member of the VFW and the Korean War Veteran Association. 

John feels he is too young to be a Grand Pioneer, but is very happy to have been asked and is excited about the opportunity.