John Carl Laviola

John Carl Laviola was born in Tacoma, WA. on November 16, 1934 to Carl and Dorothy (Hauss) Laviola, and raised in Fife, Washington—a small town that would hold big dreams for John. He graduated from Fife High School in 1952, served in the United States Air Force for 4 years as an Air Policeman, and married the neighbor girl who lived across the highway in 1959. Karen (Bornander) Laviola gave him four children: Annette, Mark, Chris, and Stephanie. John and his best friend Tony Roesli (also future brother-in-law) opened a local tavern together called the Red Pig on Highway 99 until Karen decided he needed to aim higher. He began working for Boeing in 1959 and took an overseas position in Tehran, Iran in 1973 where he transplanted his family from Washington.

John and his family embraced this new home that was so starkly different from the lush, green PNW they had left and seized the opportunity to travel and see the world. They returned to the US in 1976 and settled in Cerritos, California. John went on to work for Northrop Corp. and after a long and prestigious career, which included another stint in Saudi Arabia (1981-1984), he retired in 1994.

John and Karen moved to Sun City West, Arizona in 1996 where they enjoyed hosting and entertaining lifelong friends including snowbirds from Fife and friends they made overseas. He was an avid golfer and softball player until he was 80 years old. His Sun City West team won the World Series of Senior Softball and were crowned National Champions in 2001 in which John was named All-American.

John passed peacefully at his home on October 14, 2020. He was surrounded by family who remained by his side.

He is remembered by his family and friends for his unwavering integrity, his sweet smiling eyes, his kind and generous heart, and his calm way of laughing things off—even when his wife was yelling for him: “JOHNNY!”. When John spoke up, he commanded the room—because we knew he either had words of wisdom to share or a wisecrack.

John Laviola is survived by his sisters, Delores Dutra, JoAnn Roesli, and Sharon Guinn; his children, Annette, Mark, Chris, and Stephanie; his daughters-in-law, Denise and Lezlie; his grandchildren, Carl, Jordan, Marlee, Brianne, and Dylan; and his great grandchildren, Kayla, Jayden, and Johnny Carl.

John will be taken home and reunited with his loving wife of nearly 60 years in eternity at Gethsemane Cemetery in Federal Way, Washington.