Lễ giỗ đầu John Doney

Hôm nay 29 tháng Chạp 2009,một năm ngày mất của John Doney,mọt người yêu thuyền Việt.

John Doney, 66, of Port Townsend, died Monday, December 29th,2008  in a single car accident on Beaver Valley Road. John died instantly.

Doney, was a prominent figure in Port Townsend and spent much of his life as a philanthropic man helping many worthy causes.

John H. Doney III was born on Oct. 15, 1942 in Seattle to John Doney Jr. and Jean Alexander Doney, grew up in various parts of the country and spent his high school years in Puerto Rico. His father, John Doney, Jr., was a retired Navy pilot in WWII and then a FBI agent for the rest of his career. This in turn led John to serve in the Navy and introduced him to his passion for travel.

He attended the University of Washington from 1959 to 1963, was commissioned into the Navy in 1963 and retired as a commander in 1983.

John, along with his wife Donna, own Townsend Bay Property Management. John is a member of REPAH (Real Estate Professional for Affordable Housing.) Their business is the only company solely dedicated to property management in Jefferson County.

In the late 90s, John, along with wife Donna, began traveling to Vietnam to help children affected by landmines and Agent Orange. They continued their travels and raised awareness and money to support various programs under the organization of Kids First Vietnam. John sat on the Board of Directors for Kids First Vietnam for the last 5 years.

In one of John’s many trips to Vietnam, he noticed that the country’s art of wooden boat building was lost to the new methods of maritime boat building. John made a promise to preserve Vietnam’s maritime history and the unique wooden boats of SE Asia. He organized and began the Vietnam Wooden Boat Foundation. John began the lengthy research of the art of Vietnamese boat building and recruited many old Vietnamese craftsmen to replicate sewn-plank and basket boats in Vietnam. The results of his efforts were recognized when John created, built and shipped a handcrafted wooden boat back to the United States from Vietnam. The replicated boat had not been built in 35 years. The boat will soon be available for viewing at the Northwest School of Wooden Boat Building.

Doney was active in the Port Townsend Rotary Club and, more recently, was a strong member of the Sunrise Rotary Club in Port Townsend. He was also active in the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding, OlyCAP and other local projects.

John was preceded in death by his first wife Joan Doney in 1980. He is survived by his wife, Donna; his son John H. Doney IV of San Diego and wife Faly and their three children; daughter Janine Doney of Tacoma; step-daughter Chris Nelson and husband Brett, of Port Townsend and their three children; and sisters Kerry Perga of Port Charlotte, FL; Helen Doney Shapiro of Shoreline, WA and Nancy Horner, Valrico, FL.

The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to one of John’s organizations: www.vietnamboats.org, 
www.kidsfirstvietnam.org or www.nwboatschool.org

Services will be held at 12:00 pm Saturday, January 10, 2009 at the Sound View Cemetery in Nordland (Marrowstone Island), WA 98358.

Following the graveside services, there will be a celebration of John’s life at the Port Townsend Elks Lodge #317 at 1:00pm:

555 Otto St
Port Townsend WA 98368-9710
360.385.0317
ptbpoe317@yahoo.com