John Florek, 82, went peacefully to be with the Lord and his wife, Dec. 6, 2017. He was born in Foley, Minn., in 1935.
John graduated from Shelton High School in 1953, and went to work in the grocery business until retirement. He started work at L&M in Shelton, Wash., then to 20th Century Grocery and later, Safeway in Shelton. John moved to Centralia and became assistant manager in Centralia. He was soon promoted to manager at Chehalis Safeway and then bought the old Safeway store in Winlock, he renamed it Winlock Family Market. After closing the Winlock store, John went on to manage several stores for the Baileys, Villa Grove, Pearl St. Market and Rochester IGA.
He loved visiting with family and friends. He also enjoyed traveling and living in Desert Hot Springs, Calif., with Pat, where they bought a vacation home next to a Golf Course. He worked on the golf course and in the park as a security night guard. Throughout retirement, he enjoyed going to second hand stores, garage sales and Packwood, where John and Pat sold and bought glassware, trains and lots of miscellaneous items for many years. He had quite a collection of cars and trains, many of which he would sell on Ebay.
John was preceded in death by his loving wife, Pat of 53 years.
He is lovingly remembered by his brothers, Gary and Joe; children, Rick (Kim) Florek, Scott (Laura) Florek, Renae (Ron) Worrell and Randy (Sherri) Florek; 11 grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at Sticklin Funeral Chapel in Centralia at 1 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 6, 2018. Officiating will be his sister-in-law, Jewell Crume.
A celebration of life luncheon will be held at Lewis and Clark Hotel in downtown Centralia immediately following the service.
Arrangements are under the direction of Sticklin Funeral Chapel, 1437 S. Gold St., Centralia, WA 98531. 360-736-1388.
Condolences may be offered at www.sticklinsfuneralchapel.com
