John Lavender III passed away at his home on September 1, 2014. His family was with him at the time of his death. John Edward Lavender was born to John and May Lavender in Selleck, Washington February 11, 1931. His family moved to Wenatchee in 1940. While attending Wenatchee High School he met and later married Merle Sullivan on December 23, 1950.

After high school, he joined the Air Force and upon discharge, attended the University of Washington and graduated with an Electrical Engineering Degree. After graduating in 1959, he was employed by Western Electric and moved to the Boston area. Later he returned to the Northwest working for Chelan County PUD, where he was introduced to computers. John was responsible for the design and development of a process control system to control power generation at Rocky Reach and Rock Island Dams. These were the first dams on the Columbia River to be controlled by a computer program. John and his family moved to the Tri-Cities in 1967 to work for Computer Sciences Corporation. While working for Computer Sciences he and his family joined a team of 20 Americans and their families to establish Computer Sciences Australia. John retired in 1989. After retirement John volunteered his time at the Kadlec Auxillary.

John's passion was fishing, and in particular fly fishing. It is said he could catch fish in a bucket of water. His fishing took him to many locations, the Snowy Mountains in Australia, the Tangariro River in New Zealand, the Yukon Territory, and to Belize and the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. Fishing for Tarpon in Belize and "muy grande sabalo" in the Yucatan were his most rewarding experiences.

John and Merle spent 10 winters in Mexico. He and Merle travelled extensively in Mexico in their RV, and enjoyed the Spanish/Mexican culture. He especially enjoyed showing his children, when they visited, the sights, fishing, and food around La Penita and Puerto Vallerto. As an alternative to fly fishing, in Mexico John tried and was successful off-shore fishing in his boat the "John El" for Sailfish, Dorado, and Wahoo.

He was especially fond of camping, fishing and hunting with his family and friends. This included trips to the Chiawawa River, Snake River, Banks Lake, and the Sinlahekin in the Okanogan. While travelling to fish took up much of his time, he still managed to spend many hours fishing for steelhead in the Hanford Reach and to make an annual trip to Montana to fish the Big Hole River.

John is survived by his wife of 63 years, Merle Lavender, son John C. Lavender wife Teresa and son John, daughter Karen Lavender-Peterson husband Pete Peterson and children Ryann and Dylan, and son Curtis A. Lavender wife Kathy and son Garrett. He is preceded in death by his parents John and May Lavender and his sister Betty May Munch.

At John's request, there will be no memorial services. There will be a gathering of family and friends at a later date. John will be cremated and laid to rest in his favorite locations in the Wenatchee National Forest. In lieu of flowers please consider donations to Columbia Basin Hematology and Oncology.