John Joseph Hanway, Jr., 76, a resident of Bainbridge Island, WA, died in July 2022 from massive heart failure. He was born December 16, 1945, in his mother’s hometown of Concordia, KS. After World War II, he and his family lived in Lincoln, NE before moving to Ames, IA in 1950. He attended Ames Public Schools and graduated from Ames High School in 1964.

John earned his Bachelor of Architecture degree from Iowa State University in 1971. He also served as a Lieutenant in the Iowa National Guard from 1967-1973.

After graduation, John moved to Seattle and in 1974 established John Hanway Architects, Inc. The firm’s offices were located on a houseboat in the Portage Bay marina, and eventually John also took on management of the marina. The architecture practice focused on medical, institutional, and commercial work, with projects throughout the Pacific Northwest.

To his family and friends, John was quietly generous, often helping behind the scenes. He was beloved as a storyteller, happiest with a cigarette in one hand and a drink in the other, while exchanging stories and dispensing his unique perspective on the state of the world, on cars, on clothing, and other topics. He delighted in teasing his relatives and playing practical tricks on them, once applying a realistic fake tattoo to a sleeping nephew.

Close to both grandfathers, he honed his storytelling skills with his maternal grandfather and mastered cribbage with his paternal grandfather. At family reunions, John often challenged relatives to cribbage matches which he won so often that his brother Chris insisted he cheated. For many years he was an intrepid traveler, touring much of Europe on his own and also visiting exotic locations such as Egypt and remote parts of South America. Especially memorable was a trip he took to Bora Bora with his brothers Rod and Chris.

He spent his retirement years in the waterfront house he designed and built on Bainbridge Island.

John is survived by his sister Laurel Kimball (Bruce) in Phoenix, his brothers Rod in Redland, CA, Kevin (Meredith Seiser) in Portland, Craig (Kathy) in Seattle, and Christopher in Denver, his brother Bruce’s widow Charli Hanway in Ames, five nephews, five nieces, his aunt and uncle Portia and Charles Kendall in Independence, MO, and numerous cousins. His father John, mother Barbara, and brother Bruce preceded him in death.

A private family remembrance is planned. Please raise a glass to his memory the next time you think of John.