Frederick Richard Parhaniemi

Born Frederick Richard Parhaniemi on October 16th, 1930 in Astoria Oregon, known to his family and close friends as Dick, he passed away peacefully on March 13th, 2018.

Fred grew up in Astoria, Oregon with his two younger brothers Rudy and Bob, the sons of Fred and Silvia Parhaniemi. After graduating from Astoria High School, Fred went to work in a local machine shop. In November of 1950 he was drafted into the US Army and was stationed at Fort Lewis Washington. During his time at Fort Lewis, he was introduced by a friend to Betty Johnson of Renton, at a dance in Seattle. The two quickly fell in love and they were married on December 22, 1951. After they were married, Fred continued his service in the US Army and was stationed for a time in Garmisch Germany where he made some lifelong friends.

Fred was honorably discharged from the Army in October of 1952. He returned to Renton and built a home in May Valley on the Johnson Homestead where He and Betty started a family. Their first-born Richard (Rick) was born on May 9th, 1954. Stephen (Steve) was not far behind, born on June 3rd, 1955. Finally, Mark was born on December 29th, 1960.

In the early 1960’s, Fred built a small shop behind his home where he and his two brothers started Reliable Machine and Manufacturing Co. Their business grew until it was necessary to move to a larger facility in Kent. Fred passed his expertise onto his sons, who all spent time working at Reliable Machine until the business was sold in 1983. His sons continue to work in the trade to this day.

Fred liked spending time outdoors with his family, hiking to alpine lakes in Washington’s Cascade Mountains, fishing streams and lakes all over the state, and razor clam digging on the beaches of the Pacific Northwest. He also enjoyed playing the guitar.

Fred lost his beloved Betty in May of 2012. He continued to live in the home he built for her until December of 2017.

Survived by his son Richard (Jan); children Ryan and Melissa, his son Stephen, his son Mark (Lois); child Daniel.

The funeral service will be held at Greenwood Memorial Park on Thursday March 22nd at 11:00 am, burial at noon with reception to follow.

In lieu of flowers, the family would like donations to be made to Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.