John Roger Uusitalo

A memorial service will be held Saturday, January 14th , at Bethany Lutheran Church, 7400 Woodlawn Ave. N.E, Seattle WA 98115, at 9am. There will be a private family burial later that day In Ellensburg, Washington.

John was born in Ellensburg, Washington on October 12, 1945, to two Finnish parents, Jacob and Sylvia Marie (Pajula) Uusitalo. He attended Ellensburg public schools and attended First Lutheran Church. He graduated with honors from Ellensburg High School in 1963 havingdistinguished himself as a musician playing Oboe and Saxophone. He received the Sousa Award the outstanding musician in his class. He accepted a scholarship to attend the prestigious Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, and enjoyed this environment for the 1963-1964 school year studying alongside classmates like Chuck Mangione.

John returned to Ellensburg to study political science and to pursue his conservative political interests. During his time in college and his early career, John was very involved in the counter-culture political climate of the 1960’s holding leadership roles in Young Republicans and the Republican Party. He earned the equivalent of his associate degree in political science from Central Washington in 1966. In that same year, he was married to Cheryl Ann (Duncan) Uusitalo. Moving to Seattle, he transferred to the University of Washington and earned a degree in Marketing in 1970 while beginning a family with Cheryl. While going to school and raising a family in Seattle, John worked at Boeing. John was a conservativeRepublican and served in campaign roles for local politicians like Dennis Dunn. He was part of Young Republicans for Reagan when Ronald Reagan was beginning his bid as a candidate as the Governor of the State of California. He attended the1972 Republican Convention as a delegate from the State of Washington.

Professionally, John pursued and excelled as marketing executive or “adman” in the 1970s and 80s; he was young, creative force at PACCAR, creating a well-known brand strategy for Kenworth trucks which are recognized worldwide today; the company won two JD Powers awards while John promoted Kenworth’s brand. After these successes in Seattle, John moved on to personal technology before it was fashionable. Working as a marketing manager at Hewlett Packard, he marketed calculators and personal computing products. In the 1980’s John decided his creative talents were best focused on branding strategy on the agency side. During his agency career, he worked for the best creative agencies of the day including Chiat Day, Lowe Marschalk, Regis McKenna, and Floathe & Johnson. His consumer branding for a reputable, but little known PC chip manufacturer, was a crowning accolade. His San Francisco Chiat Day team won a Clio in 1983 for a consumer oriented branding campaign for Intel. John followed his passion for marketing all over the United States living in Seattle, Washington, Corvallis and Portland, Oregon, Napa and San Francisco, California, and New York. He was a director of marketing at eCharge, as late as 2001.

In semi-retirement since 2004, John focused his interests in theology and community services staying close to his family and community. His was very involved in BethanyLutheran Church in Greenlake area of Seattle serving as president and council member and has served at Solanus Community Center in Seattle as a homeless services coordinator.

He is survived by his sister, Dorothy of San Jose CA, his children, Jay (son) and Stephanie Uusitalo of Redmond, WA, Rebecca Uusitalo, of Seattle, WA, Heather (daughter) and Jeff Hubbard of Cheney WA, his 7 grandchildren Rylie, Aiden, Jake, Kohl, Ava, Ashley, and Finley, his nieces and nephews, Lisa (niece) and David Couch, Jeff Uusitalo, Aaron Uusitalo, Valerie, Margorie, Daniel, Alec, Deborah Hamilton and Steve Hamilton. “Papa John” will be missed by all.

He was preceded in death by his parents Jacob and Sylvia Uusitalo, his brother, Russell Uusitalo, and his nephew, Scott Hamilton.

John gave us so much of himself; his sense of humor, his witty intellect, and his incredible resolve (SISU!). We remember and honor his life.

Memorial Contributions may be made in John’s name to Solanus Casey Center, 1008 James St., Seattle, WA 98104/ (206) 328-5707, where John dedicated his time to coordinating relief and resources for the homeless or to Bethany Lutheran Church, 7400 Woodlawn Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98115/ (206) 523-4454, where he served as President and Council member.

Arrangements under the direction of Acacia Memorial Park & Funeral Home, Seattle, Washington.