Written by: Erik Bernhoft
In the early days of June 1953 the Alaska steamship Baranof, bound for Seattle, carried the then very pregnant Margaret Anne Berg who anxiously awaited the arrival of her second son. As timing would have it, labor set in before the steadfast steamer could reach its destination and a US Coast Guard PBY amphibious airplane was dispatched to shuttle Margaret and her unborn son nearly 400 miles to Seattle. On June 9th, 1953 the pair landed at Boeing Field in Seattle and mere hours later Jon Richard Bernhoft was born at Virginia Mason Hospital to his proud parents, Stanley Olaf Bernhoft and Margaret Ann Berg.
Jon grew up in Edmonds and in his teenage and college years worked in all levels of the Alaskan fishing industry. He fondly recounted this time and grew a deep appreciation for the Alaskan frontier and the Aleutian Islands.
Jon attended Washington State University in Pullman from the years of 1971 to 1977 and achieved a Bachelors of Science in Pharmacy. After graduation Jon moved to Sequim to start his family and serve a long, varied, and productive career in the field of pharmacy. His numerous contributions include proud proprietorship of the innovative Sequim Plaza Pharmacy for nearly two decades, and leadership within the ranks of the Washington Board of Pharmacy and the Washington State Pharmacy Association that ultimately would help shape today’s profession.
Jon called the Olympic Peninsula home for many decades. He spent his free time exploring the beautiful and abundant Olympic wilderness with friends and family. He was an avid fisherman, hunter, and spent countless days scuba diving the rarely visited rocky beaches of the North Olympic Coast.
Jon proudly served as a charter member in the Sequim Sunrise Rotary Club for thirty years. Through participation in countless community and international events, he lived and breathed Rotary’s mission of “Service Above Self”. He was also an active spiritual member of King’s Way Foursquare Church.
For the last 15 years of his life Jon passionately pursued the hobby of aviation. Jon loved everything about flight and frequently shared his passion with friends and family on many trips around the Olympic Peninsula, the San Juan Islands, and the greater Pacific Northwest region into Oregon and Eastern Washington. In 2013 Jon set out from Sequim Valley Airport in his beloved Cessna N52388 on a grand adventure to Alaska and spent twelve wonderful months exploring some of the most remote wilderness on the planet from the air.
On the evening of December 29th 2016, after sharing a wonderful day in Seattle with those he loved, he took off into the night in his cherished N52388 from Boeing Field, a place that 63 years earlier he had landed just before coming into this world.
Jon is survived by his loving son, Erik, who misses him dearly.
A celebration of life service will be held for Jon at John Wayne Marina in Sequim on Saturday, January 28 at 1:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Sequim Sunrise Rotary Club at P.O. Box 1521 as that is how Jon would have wanted it.