JOHN NELS REMLEY was born on March 15, 1928 to John Lawrence Remley and Fanny Johnson in a little town named Luck in northern Wisconsin. He often said he had more luck than sense, and it seemed to be true his entire life.
Most of John’s ancestors were of Danish heritage and he was 75% Danish. He grew up in Scandinavian communities, such as West Sweden, Danish Lutheran Church, etc., and they had a great deal of influence upon him growing up. He was also greatly influenced by the fact that he grew up during the Great Depression, so he was very conscious of the importance of money.
John’s high school class had approximately 50 students. He was always interested in sports and participated in all the sports that were available at his local high school.
John grew up on a small dairy farm in northern Wisconsin. He and his three brothers learned hard work when they milked cows before going to school.
The day that John turned 13, he and his family stepped off the train in Vancouver, Washington, where it was springtime. They had left freezing weather and piles of snow back in Wisconsin so John thought he was in paradise. Unfortunately his mother did not feel the same way, and she moved back to Wisconsin after a year. The rest of the family soon followed her.
While in his last year of high school, John felt the pull of the west and left Wisconsin to work in the shipyards in Vancouver, Washington. In 1946, he graduated from high school in Vancouver. This was at the end of World War II, and men who had fought in the war were trying to get jobs. After trying a few things such as logging, factory work, etc., he headed back to Wisconsin. At the age of 19, with money he had saved, including from his paper route in Vancouver, he bought a small dairy farm about a mile from his parents' place so he and his dad could share machinery.
During this same time, his favorite uncle Frank became friends with Sheila’s favorite uncle Johnny. Both uncles moved to WI where John Remley and Johnny Miller became very good friends. When Johnny Miller moved to Indiana, John Remley had an excuse to visit Indiana in late summer of 1952. Sheila and her two siblings were in the car, ready to return to their home in Illinois, when John pulled up. Sheila, age 16, saw this handsome guy and wished he had been there sooner, but.. with great difficulty, she remained in the car.
The following weekend, Sheila drove into the yard and saw that same handsome young man talking to her parents. John took Sheila to the movies, but her two siblings went with them. When he left, Sheila’s parents encouraged John to write to Sheila. They shared several letters, during which John expressed concern over their eight-year age difference.
His letters stopped arriving. Sheila was dating others and had a steady boyfriend. Then, in the Spring, John wrote that he had a new car and wondered if he could make a trip down to see her.
She still thought of John as her uncle’s friend, but all that changed after the night of their first date and getting better acquainted the next day. Before John left on Monday morning, they were engaged and planning a June wedding for the next year... after Sheila graduated from high school.
By Fall, John decided he couldn’t wait until June so they were married during Sheila’s Christmas break, December 27, 1953. Sheila continued to live at home with her parents and graduated high school in June. Every three weeks between January and June, she would get on a bus after school and travel all night to be with John for a long weekend. They lived 560 miles apart with no freeways in those days.
Sheila had grown up on a farm, driving tractor, etc. Now she was a "Dairy Farmers Wife" which meant milking cows twice a day, no matter what else was happening. It was hard work, especially in the winter when it could be 40 below, and the barn needed to be cleaned out and manure spread on the fields by pitchfork off a hay wagon..
Their daughter Cynthia Laveil was born in April, 1955. A son, Rodney John, joined family in January, 1957. The farm was an ideal place for a young family. John was able to spend time with his children and enjoyed taking them to sit on his lap. They knew their dad and how much he loved them.
John was a forward thinker and visionary. He could see that the small farms would not survive so he sold the farm in 1962. The family moved to Princeton, MN where John had taken a house in trade for part payment on the farm. It was there that he had an offer to study to be an Insurance Agent.
The family was sent to River Falls, WI where John started training for State Farm. Again, he could see there would not be enough business to support his family. In 1963, he bought a Farmer’s Insurance Agency, sight unseen in Vancouver, Washington. The location was only a few blocks from where he had lived with his family when he was 13.
It was a surprise that John was selling insurance as he hardly believed in it himself. But as he did like helping people, the business thrived, and he became very successful... so successful that people at the top thought it was time he retired. He was forced into early retirement at age 54.
This hit him hard and he went into another of his depressions, only more severe. He overcame it so that John and Sheila were able to take a two month European trip in the fall. With a rented car, they traveled many of the countries. John loved to find some young boy to throw a ball back and forth. Every time that happened, he would declare the trip a success.
John was very adventurous. He drove to Alaska... alone. He also tried to drive to the Panama Canal a few months after a major hurricane had wiped out roads and bridges. He found himself driving on an old railroad bridge with only trucks. He was the only car. There was another bridge for cars, but he didn’t know Spanish. He was delayed at borders. At one border the gate was down before him, and an agent with a gun tried to get into the car with John. It was one of few times in his life that he acted fast... when he saw the gate open and the agent didn’t have time to get in the car, he gunned the car down the road and up to the top where he saw a McDonalds. Once safely inside, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Another time, John had free airline tickets. So he took off, not knowing where he was going except as far as the free tickets would take him. Unknown to John, he was in Venezuela when they were sending Americans home...but he was unaware of that. However, Sheila did know that and was afraid he might be there..she had not heard from him for over a week. But finally he called to tell her he was on his way safely home....never knowing he had been in any danger.
Sometimes when he found a nice place, they would look at him and say they didn’t rent to Americans. He would show them his drivers’ license from Vancouver WA . However, he covered up the WA and when they thought he was from Canada, he was able to get a room.
John had no hobbies except golf, travel and gambling. He went through a lucky streak for several months, playing craps or dice. He actually thought he was going to make a living at it. Of course, his luck changed and he scrapped that plan.
So he tried his hand at investing. He spent a lot of time at the library studying stocks, reports, etc. He found this was something he could do and became quite successful.
He spent a lot of time on the local golf courses where it NEVER rained.. He had a lot of good golf stories that he loved to share.
John was a friendly person, but he did not have any really close friends except for his brother and a cousin. He didn't talk or chat a lot. But when he had something to say... and people would give him the time to say it ...his wry sense of humor came out. Some of what he had to say was pretty profound if you could unscramble the meaning. For example, one of our Brazilian exchange students (used to having maids in her home) asked John why we didn’t have a maid. John said very succinctly, “All our maids are on welfare.” If you think about it, he was right.
The Remley family had 5 exchange students, and after living together for a year, they all remained extended family. The students were from New Zealand, Chile and 3 from Brazil. A niece from Canada also joined this group when she needed a home for a while.
Daughter Cynthia went to Brazil for 14 months, right after high school, 1973-74. Rodney joined her for a few months in the summer. After Cynthia returned home, she attended local Clark College, graduated from University of Washington, and then from Lewis and Clark School of Law in 1983. Sadly, their son Rodney died in 1980 at age 33.
Because daughter Cynthia and her husband Ken Protonentis lived in Clearwater, FL, John finally agreed he was ready to move down here. Cynthia came here with her job in 1988, as a Corporate Attorney for one of the world’s largest insurance companies. Her husband had his own practice and specialized in Franchise Law.
Moving to Palm Hill permanently 5 years ago gave John a lot more options for entertainment. He soon found that shuffleboard was something at which he could excel. He always enjoyed playing cards and was so pleased when the Friday afternoon ladies welcomed him into their group.
John was known for a being a gentleman and a neat dresser. He always had his blue sweater on, even if you couldn’t see it buried under layers of more sweaters.
John was healthy and didn’t take any prescription medicine until the last month of his life. He developed a distended stomach with internal belches that wracked his body. He was sent home from the hospital even though there was not much improvement because everyone felt it best not to do surgery on a 91 year old man. He was back in the hospital after only one day home. This time surgery was the only option that might help him.
They removed a tumor from his colon that probably was cancerous. It looked like he was recovering when he was eating, walking, etc. He wanted to go home. But then he started declining. On the morning of Friday, Dec.13, he went into a coma and died at 11:30 with his wife and daughter holding his hands.
John lived a long and a full life. He went from a simple dairy farmer to a jet setter. Yes John, you probably did have more luck than sense, but you made the most out of it. Enjoy your new adventures.
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