He was born to immigrant parents Betty (West) and John Andringa in Sparta, Wisconsin on July 8, 1923. He married Arleen Kotten also of Sparta, on June 25, 1949.
John graduated from Wilton High School in Wilton, Wisconsin at the age of sixteen. After graduating, he went to teacher’s college and at age nineteen, he was teaching forty students, grades one through twelve, in a rural, one-room school in Kendall, Wisconsin earning $85 a month.
In 1943, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps and became a navigator and reached the rank of Second Lieutenant. After being discharged in 1946, he attended the University of Wisconsin, Madison, for two years. He then transferred to Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon where he received his bachelor’s degree in forestry. He worked for various companies in Oregon as a timber cruiser and logging manager after graduation.
In 1970, he and his family moved to Morton, Washington, where he worked for U.S. Plywood, which later became Champion International, as logging manager. He retired in 1986 and he and Arleen began travelling. Besides travelling, his hobbies included hunting, fishing, gathering the winter’s supply of wood, keeping an immaculate lawn, and playing cards.
John is survived by his wife, Arleen, of sixty-three years, daughters Carolynn Andringa of Albany, OR, Vickie (Chris) Petersen of Olympia, WA, Nancy Andringa of Prosser, WA, and Lynnae (Doug) Coleman of Morton, WA, his sons, David (Kelly) Andringa of Bonney Lake, WA, Brian (Tami) Andringa of Yakima, WA, Allen Andringa of Tallinn, Estonia, and Steve Andringa of Yakima, WA, one sister-in-law, Jeanette Andringa of Sparta, Wisconsin, 17 grandchildren, six great grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by daughter, Sharleen Joy, who passed away in infancy. His parents, three brothers, Bert, Donald, and Lauren and two sisters, Wilma Tucker and Lucille Popple, all of Sparta, Wisconsin, also preceded him in death.
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