Gregory Allan Hovander

Gregory Allan Hovander passed away on June 15, 2026 at Evergreen Health in Kirkland, Washington, aged 79 years. He was born on May 31, 1947 at Swedish Hospital in Seattle, the first child of George and Barbara Marie Hovander. Greg and his two siblings shared participation in Seattle’s All City Band and a plethora of practical jokes on family and friends. Greg grew up in Ballard and graduated Ballard High in 1965. At the University of Washington, he earned a Bachelor of Science in Zoology in 1969 and then went on to graduate again in 1972 with a Bachelor of Science from the School of Pharmacy.

After working at a pharmacy in Tacoma, Washington, Greg joined VISTA Volunteers in the summer of 1973. The volunteers had a 10-day training session at Seattle University, and it was there (just before the last 5 days of training) that Greg met his wife-to-be, Barbara Joanne. During his 1-year commitment to VISTA, Greg started a pharmacy for Centro de Salubridad, a migrant workers clinic in Woodburn, Oregon, along with two “satellite clinic” pharmacies. He then was hired to write up a report on the feasibility of a pharmacy for the Farm Workers Family Health Center of Toppenish Washington (now known as Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic), which then hired him to create their pharmacy. He then again set up a satellite pharmacy in Granger, WA. From 1977 to 1981, Greg also served as Clinical Pharmacist Consultant to various medical clinics for low-income patients in eastern WA. After a few years of wages rather than volunteer compensation, Greg felt he could afford marriage. He and Barbara were wed April 23, 1977.

In 1981, Greg joined with a former UW classmate in a plan to create a new pharmacy in Monroe, WA. Greg started the pharmacy while his friend finished his teaching term at UW School of Pharmacy and then joined Greg at their pharmacy, Sky Valley Clinical Pharmacists. During the partnership, Greg started a fourth pharmacy in Sultan, Washington as a branch of Sky Valley. After the partnership dissolved, Greg kept possession of the Sultan pharmacy, renaming it Sultan Pharmacy and Natural Care. This became the pharmacy that he operated until his passing.

Greg had a lifelong passion for mountaineering. He was a member of the Cascadians from 1978 through 1981. He wrote a lengthy poem, entitled “Mountains” about the effect on him from sights and sounds he encountered while hiking. He loved planning annual, week-long hikes and counted fellow hikers among his closest friends. Even seasoned hikers marveled at how little he needed to pack, but it proved adequate to meet his needs. Typical of Greg-type of gear would be Nordic-style short pants or at least pants with an above-the-knee zipper that would release the lower part of the pants. This was so you could take longer strides (and, after all you wouldn’t want wet pantlegs if there was rain or snow! Good ol’ body heat will keep those legs warm and dry, don’t you know!).

He also loved foraging for edible plants and wild mushrooms. He shared his knowledge with groups through forays that included verbal instruction, prepared handouts of information, and a picnic at the end in which the findings of the group could be sampled. He also presented lectures on mushrooms to mycological societies, starting in Yakima, WA and later in Everett, WA. He was both President and Newsletter Writer in 1980 for the Central Washington Mycological Society and a member from 1976 to 1981. In 1994, Greg was given Honorary Lifetime Membership in Snohomish County Mycological Society.

Tennis ranked high in Greg’s interests. He was a member of the tennis team at the UW. He tried his game at various tennis tournaments. Greg’s daughter has a story of wearing a T-shirt from a tournament once while doing homework with friends in her college math class. One of her friends said that he had played in that tournament. She said the shirt actually belonged to her dad, and he replied, “Maybe those were the old guys who beat us!” From 1984 to 2002, Greg was a tennis instructor for Monroe School District Tennis Clinics or at private lessons. He was a lifetime member of the United States Tennis Association from 1966 on.

Another love of Greg’s was music and playing his trombone in the Husky marching band was his ticket to games. He also found a few opportunities to play his trombone at churches. He didn’t need his entire trombone, just the mouthpiece, to practice a song with good replication, and his daughter has a fond memory of riding in his truck while he would play "name that tune" using the mouthpiece of his trombone.

Greg loved older music, especially with harmonies and significant lyrics, and so especially he liked older hymns. He liked to harmonize even during congregational singing. From 1984 to 1992 he was part of the Snohomish County Windjammers, which is a chorus affiliated with the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America. In 1986 he was named Barbershopper of the Year by the Windjammers, and in 1987 he served as president of that group.

Education in health issues for the public was a passion for Greg, and he regularly stocked select health books in his pharmacy. In 1998 Greg gave five Natural Medicine Seminars sponsored by Fern Bluff Grange in Sultan, WA for professionals and the general public on aging, arthritis, cholesterol, hormone imbalances, and ulcer and reflux disease. He also gave time contributing to education on pharmaceuticals to those entering the health field. Starting in 1990, Greg served periodically as a clinical instructor for students from UW School of Pharmacy in a residency program (one at a time). From April through June of 1996, Greg was the designer and instructor of a course of Pharmacognosy for naturopathic physicians at Bastyr University. Also, from November 1997 to Nov. 2000, Greg was an initial collaborator and lecturer for the alternative medicine class (Med. Chem. 420) at UW School of Pharmacy.

Greg’s most cherished honors from his career include receiving in 2015 the Bowl of Hygeia Award for Washington State, sponsored by the American Pharmacists Association Foundation and the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations. The Bowl of Hygeia Award is a prestigious honor recognizing pharmacists who have demonstrated outstanding civic leadership and community service.

There are many other things that could be said about Greg, but above all, Greg was a very loyal, loving and forgiving man, and this he owed to his relationship to God (whom he endeavored to serve) through his relationship to Jesus, the Messiah (whom he endeavored to follow). Because he valued people, he tried his best to help people with their health and to be a good friend. He is greatly missed by his wife, his daughter and son, his two siblings and all who knew him well.

Some websites featuring Greg:

https://dispatchnews.com/news/2020/apr/06/stars-in-the-sky-valley-a-pharmacist-with-a-missio/

https://www.wsparx.org/page/BowlofHygeia

https://hovandermycologyofwashington.blogspot.com/2014/12/gregs-spring-walk-is-open-for.html