John Phillip Herke

John lived his entire life on the family ranch in the Ahtanum Valley, except for the time he lived in town with his maternal grandmother to attend the Catholic grade school. In 1953, he married Joann Sanvik, who had recently immigrated from Norway. Together they had a daughter and two sons. He farmed, first with his father, then on his own, raising cattle, hay and hops. John started driving teams of mules and horses to help with haying when he was nine years old. The first tractors were purchased near the end of World War II, and John shepherded the ranch’s transition from blacksmithing to arc welding, learning the needed skills to maintain mechanized equipment without any formal training. It also started John’s lifelong enjoyment of heavy equipment. As the needs of the ranch evolved, John used his natural curiosity and problem-solving attitude to meet those needs, including developing rock pits for road building, a sawmill with his brother Carl for lumber, and learning to drill wells for water.

John considered his family to be his legacy, and they were central to his life. As his sons matured, he devoted time and effort to teach them his acquired skills and knowledge. The family also travelled to Norway and Germany several times to connect with family.

John was fascinated by aviation and earned his pilot’s license in 1970 and continued flying into his 80s. He purchased a family airplane, and the family visited most of the western states over several years, with wonderful memories from the flying trips.

John especially cherished time spent in the mountains with family and friends on the back of a horse. Riding into the Goat Rock Wilderness was a special treat for John at any time, but he especially enjoyed sharing it with good friends Al and Edna Ribail and Dewey and Edna Layman.

After the death of his wife in 2003, John enjoyed camping in the mountains and traveling with his good friend, Donna Melton. They took several trips, travelling to Lake Mead and to Canada. John documented the trips with his trusty and ever-present camera.

John was preceded in death by his parents, his brothers and his sister. He was also preceded in death by his wife Joann and their infant daughter Sandra. He is survived by two sons, Mark (Lisa) and Steven (Sharon), and 2 grandsons, Cameron and Jackson Herke, and numerous nieces and nephews.

John’s life will be celebrated with a Mass of Christian Burial on Thursday, October 9, 2025 at 10 AM at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Yakima. Burial will be at Calvary Cemetery in Yakima. A reception will follow at the Wiley Union Church (2711 Wiley Road) in Wiley City.

Keith and Keith Funeral Home is caring for the family. The family appreciates Julie McCarty and Lynn Dorning for their caring support of John at home, and also the compassionate staff at Multicare Yakima Memorial Hospital who cared for John in his final days.