John Black was born July 5, 1945, in Bremerton, Wash. He died Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020, at Tri-State Memorial Hospital of kidney disease.
As written by John ...
Robert Banks married his high school sweetheart Dorothy Lindgren in 1944 and a year later baby John became their first born.
The young family moved to the White Center district of Seattle in 1952 soon after the birth of Bob, their second son. Robert passed away a few months later from complications of diabetes. Life was hard for Dorothy and she often had to walk 2 miles to and from work, often at odd hours and bad weather.
White Center was a poor neighborhood economically but rich in other ways. The adults partied together on Saturday nights and the kids played and hung out together. In the summer, there was one continuous softball game in the vacant lot that lasted until dark every night.
Fred LeClaire was one of the neighbors and was John’s godfather. Fred’s dear friend Perry Black came to visit after he was discharged from the U.S. Navy and was quickly accepted as part of the tight-knit neighborhood community.
Perry and Dorothy became immediate friends and soon fell in love. They married in 1954. Perry legally adopted John and his younger brother Bob thus, the official advent of John Black. Baby sisters Sandra and Mary later joined the family.
After a brief stop in Kellogg, the family moved to Lewiston in 1957. By then, John had developed a singular interest — sports. He played them all with tremendous enthusiasm and had dreams of future stardom at Dodger Stadium. His boyhood idol was the great Dodger centerfielder Duke Snider and he got to meet the Duke when he managed the Tri-City Braves of the old Northwest League.
John’s ninth grade class was the first to occupy the new Jenifer Junior High School and John was the school’s first quarterback. He led the Burros to a 1-6 record and that might have been his first insight that his athletic ability was a bit short of professional caliber.
He graduated from Lewiston High School in 1963 with a new interest — writing. He used that skill to help work himself through college and in his two business careers. He even fulfilled a “bucket list” item by having a book, “Walking with Tigers,” published in 2018.
John attended the University of Idaho for one year but his 1.8 GPA didn’t impress anyone and it was strongly suggested that he grow up and start over. He enrolled at Lewis-Clark State College and did well in school, graduating in 1968.
This move ended up being life changing because it was at LCSC that he met Marilyn Gibbons who became his wife and best friend for life. John said, “I made some bad decisions in my life but I made one great one. In 1966 I married the best person I have ever known. I’ve been blessed to have her in my life. She’s the greatest mom, grandmother, nurse, travel buddy and golf partner ever!”
While in college, John was a reporter for the Tribune but the late nights were hard for a college student and he went to work for the Lewiston Boys’ Club in 1967. He had planned to teach and coach after college but his work at the Club presented a different opportunity. A group of citizens in Bellingham, Wash., wanted to start a new Club in their community and needed an executive director to get it going. John was offered the position and he and Marilyn set out on their new adventure in 1968.
The task of starting a new club with no funds, limited community support and an old storefront shell of a building would have been an impossible task for most 23-year-olds. But John had a confidence and enthusiasm that turned on the community and the new club took off like a rocket! Within three years the club had 700 members, a prominent board of directors and was on solid financial footing.
Boys’ Clubs of America staff were impressed by John’s Bellingham results and offered him a job on the national staff as a field representative. So in 1971, John and Marilyn set off for a new adventure in Los Angeles. This was quite a change for two Northwest kids but the couple quickly fell in love with California. The couple also got the great news that Marilyn was pregnant!
The new job required lots of travel and John was speaking in Ogden, Utah, when the local sheriff entered the hallway and gave him the news no expectant father ever wanted to hear. Marilyn was in the hospital and that she and the baby’s life were in grave danger. “I have never experienced such fear. I was numb. I will never forget the drive to Salt Lake City and the flight home. This was before cellphones and I knew no details beyond the initial report. I was terrified!”
The story did have a happy ending because Marilyn and baby Greg survived, though it was touch and go. There is a strong likelihood that both would have died if they had not lived in Los Angeles with its world class medical care.
In 1975 John was promoted to regional director and the family moved to the San Francisco area for three years. Then he was promoted again in 1978 and returned to Los Angeles in a new capacity. In 1980 son Darren was born.
John was now in charge of nine states and was asked to increase the national organization’s fundraising presence on the West Coast.
He developed friendships with lots of well-known people and he enjoyed sharing stories about these experiences. One special example was he and Marilyn spent an evening with Olympic legend Jesse Owens. “It was just the three of us and it was magical for sure. He was humble, engaging and he seemed to be having a good time. It is a special memory for sure.”
John also became friends with Dinah Shore. She was active in helping John recruit the kinds of movers and shakers necessary to build the organization’s fund-raising and political base.
John also got heavily involved with the organization of the 1984 Olympic Games and served on several committees. He was one of the organizers of the torch relay that raised $30 million for Boys and Girls clubs and the national YMCA.
In 1988 John and Marilyn lost both of their fathers and the family made a decision to leave Los Angeles and return home to Lewiston. They had been gone for 20 years.
John started Black’s Office Products which later merged and became Black and Vail’s. He also acquired two Xerox dealerships and won numerous excellence awards from the company.
The family spent much of their free time golfing and were very active in activities and leadership of the Lewiston Golf and Country Club. The Club was the core of the family’s social life.
Also, John took on a new hobby not readily available in Los Angeles — fishing. John was the self-proclaimed “worst steelhead fisherman in Idaho” but he had good friends who taught him the ropes and he eventually got better. He and his sons spent hundreds of hours on the river and developed memories that will be cherished for the rest of their lives.
They also went on several trips to Alaska and a special journey to catch giant tarpon in Florida. John’s love of Alaska motivated him to venture there some 15 times and he was like a child on Christmas Eve every time he was scheduled to go.
John also authored numerous fishing articles for Alaska Outdoors and Northwest Sportsman magazines and he and his buddies would talk for hours about their fishing adventures.
One of his proudest accomplishments was that he passed on his love of fishing to his grandchildren. “Those memories can’t ever be minimized or forgotten. The times together make me smile every time and every day.”
John and Marilyn went south for parts of the winter after their retirements and played lots of golf. They loved discovering new great courses and they played some of the great ones including Cypress Point and Pebble Beach and their hidden gem, Quintero.
Health issues made the trips south difficult so the couple tackled duplicate bridge with gusto and each played several times each week.
And continued by family…
John was preceded in death by his parents, Perry and Dorothy Black, and biological father Robert Banks.
He is survived by his wife, Marilyn; sons Greg and Darren Black; brother Bob Black; sisters Sandra Vernon and Mary Crum; grandchildren Stephanie, Wyatt, Drew, Devin and Jameson Black; great-grandchildren Jaxton and Colton Gressett and Roman Black.
Memorial donations may be made to LCSC Women’s Basketball Scholarship Program. A celebration of life will be planned at a future date.
Never forgotten, always in our hearts.
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