MILES S. JOHNS, III

Miles S. Johns III, of LaConner, WA, passed away on December 10, 2019. He was 72.

Miles was born to parents Miles Jr.

and Virginia ‘Ginny’ Johns (Demmer) on December 8, 1947 in Bellevue, WA. He served in the United States Navy.

After an honorable discharge for medical reasons, he eventually landed in LaConner, WA. Capable and versed in myriad disciplines, Miles’ professional and volunteer careers took many forms.

He spent some years as a commercial fisherman working the Lois Anderson in Bristol Bay, AK, he was an accomplished carpenter and builder and worked as a photographer and printer for La Conner’s original periodical – the Channel Town Press.

As a volunteer he served as a firefighter and EMT for the La Conner and Hope Island Fire Departments, ascending to the role of Chief at the latter while playing a lead role in the formation of Skagit Bay Search & Rescue.

Amidst all of that, he even found the time to do a stint as a little league baseball coach.

Miles was comfortable and at home in the outdoors. From the peak of the mountain to the the trough of the wave, he explored and relished his time in the wild. Many of his best hours were spent hiking or climbing the Cascades, or trolling around the Salish Sea in an old Boston Whaler. His love for the natural world was a love harnessed and honed, and proudly passed down to his children. As sure as he taught them to tie a hook and clean a fish, he taught them to appreciate and flourish in nature.

A favorite pastime with his boys was the full-moon ‘night hike’ he’d lead down a windy, cliff-side path near his home off of Pull-and-Be-Damned Road.

Joyously corralling his sons and urging them out into the monochromatic world of the moonlit landscape, he forbade the use of any artificial light.

“Eegads! Turn off the flashlight and let your eyes adjust!” he’d exclaim, before calmly adding, “Eat more carrots.” The boys would stumble along in the dark behind him as he moved swiftly and effortlessly along the narrow path, as if guided by laser – all the while jovially and expertly identifying the constellations above and the flora and fauna below.

Atop the bluff, they’d catch one last, lighter-lit glimpse of his smirking face as he turned the tip of a hand-rolled cigarette to orange ember and declared, “You’re on your own boys,” before bounding off, full-speed into the night ahead.

The game was to spot him amongst the pale-lit trees and bush of the bluff before he spotted them.

Invariably, they never did – no matter how cautiously they crept, how carefully they scanned the Scotch broom – with a howl, Miles would inevitably pounce upon them from some obscured perch in a fir, inciting a chorus of shrieks; inspiring a belly full of laughter.

Into the starlight he’s run, yet again. Now we adjust to a new darkness, one no amount of carrots can help to illume. As we continue down our paths, we will always see him in the moonlight; in every movement of the bush and every shadow of the tree. In every gust of wind – until he drops in on us once again – we catch a glimpse of our father, our friend.

Miles is survived by his sons Joshua, Zachary and Michael Johns; his two grandchildren, Orion and Elani Johns; step-son Rob Gustafson and step-daughter Heidi West; his brother, Jay Simac, and sister, Ruthie Dougherty.

A memorial will be held at the LaConner Civic Garden Club on Saturday, January 18, 2020 at 1 p.m.