On November 26, 2018, at 8:15 p.m., the Lord sent his angels to take John home. John was born August 18, 1929, to Thomas Fredrick and De'Lacey Lawson in Elkland, Missouri and had six siblings.
John came to Oroville in the mid-1940s and began working in the orchards. He left Oroville for a short time and returned with his sons, Mike and Greg, and then returned to work in the orchards for Lester Roberts.
In 1956, Verna Ecklor and Nora Meese arranged a blind date for John to meet Joy Davis. She also had two children, Jim and Bev. It was love from the beginning. On January 11, 1957, they married and joined families. In 1958, they had a daughter together, Kally.
John continued worked as an orchardist until around 1970 when he became the manager at Valley Evaporating. He remained there until it closed. He then went to work for OTID for five years and then joined Art Jackson in the construction field, which he eventually retired from. He worked on many of the masonry buildings that are still standing in Oroville today.
John's years were spent raising his family, working hard and enjoying hydroplanes, water skiing, softball, horseshoes, bowling and, most of all, fishing. John also served as a volunteer firefighter and EMT for the City of Oroville from 1967 to 1980 and volunteered for many of Oroville's organizations.
From the time John was 10 years old, he had a fiddle in his hand. He had a true love for music and could play any string instrument, especially the mandolin, John and Joy spent several years traveling with their musician friends and brought the joy of music to many communities.
John is survived by wife, Joy Lawson of Oroville, Wash.; children, Jim Davis (Linda) of Yakima, Wash., Bev Patrick (Bob) of Yakima, Wash., Kally Berlinger (Aby) of Oroville, ten granddaughters, five grandsons, 34 great grandchildren and five great, great grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by granddaughter, Christie Clay; son, Mike Lawson; son, Greg Lawson; great grandson, Leelynd Greg Lawson and granddaughter, Amy Davis.
A celebration of John's life will be held on January 12, 2019, at 1 p.m. at the Free Methodist Church in Oroville, Washington.