John Monpier Vranizan

You could count the things in John Vranizan’s life that mattered most on one hand –family, faith, service, and sports.

John, 89, died on April 30th of complications from congestive heart failure, at home in SW Portland.

John was a true son of Portland, with roots in the city dating back to the arrival of his paternal grandparents from Croatia, and his maternal grandparents from the Midwest, both in the late 19th century. He was born in 1936 to Matthew and Catherine (Monpier) Vranizan, the youngest of their four sons. He grew up on NE Knott Street in a household that included his parents, brothers, and maternal grandparents. He attended Immaculate Heart and The Madeleine Catholic grade schools, and Central Catholic High School.

John met future wife Carole Zenner at a young people’s club for students from local Catholic high schools. They started dating junior year, and by senior year, he was Central Catholic’s class vice president, she was Holy Child Academy’s student body president, and they were an item. When John went to Santa Clara University, he’d drive north through San Francisco to see Carole, who was at Dominican College in Marin County. When Carole transferred to Lewis and Clark College back in Portland after sophomore year, he was so lonely he announced that he couldn’t wait until graduation, he wanted them to get married that summer. She said yes, and the wedding took place in August 1957, the start of a loving partnership that lasted 68 years. “Our marriage is more than where we lived and who our children are,” John wrote in a life story he compiled a dozen years ago. “We have faith in God and trust He will provide whatever it is that we need to be together. We love one another. That love has changed and matured as we have been together.”

Sports were as important to John as education. One of his proudest accomplishments was playing alongside childhood friends on the Central Catholic football team that won back-to-back Oregon state championships in 1952 and 1953. Later, he took up running and completed several marathons, taught himself river rafting, took up tennis after joining the Multnomah Athletic Club in 1970, and played golf at Columbia Edgewater Country Club. He served on the MAC board and as president in 1992, using his monthly president’s column in the club’s Winged M magazine to share some of the sayings he lived by, such as “Plan your work and work your plan.” His athletic pursuits came despite having heart valve replacement surgery in 1988 at the age of 52—or more likely, because of it. He loved watching sports as much as playing, especially the Green Bay Packers, UO Ducks, and PDX Trail Blazers.

Being of service stemmed from his sense of duty and deep faith. He joined the ROTC in college and served for a total of eight years in the US Army Reserves. After he and Carole bought a house in SW Portland’s Garden Home neighborhood in 1961, they joined St. John Fisher Catholic Church, and the parish became the center of their family and many life-long friendships. When the kids grew older, John’s faith-based service extended to Chair of the Central Catholic High School Board, founding Sunday Bingo at St. Mary’s Academy, and with Carole, chairing the Jesuit High School auction. He was a long-time lector at St. John Fisher.

John earned a mechanical engineering degree from Santa Clara University and was a licensed professional engineer. After working for Precision Castparts, he spent a good portion of his career in the forest products industry, including working at Moore Dry Kiln of Oregon as a sales rep and general manager. After management positions at Portland Iron Works and Coe Manufacturing, John started Carroll Hatch & Associates, the US arm of a Canadian-based consulting firm that he eventually purchased and specialized in energy efficiency projects for local utility companies. Work he did for the Bonneville Power Administration on variable speed controls for sawmill dry kiln fans became the industry standard and in 1987 earned him a US Energy Dept. award and (Oregon) Governor’s Energy Award.

John applied his mechanical know-how to practical matters around the house. He was an early DIY guy, converting a garage into a playroom, building a garden shed, landscaping, and despite the family’s admonitions, continuing to power wash the roof of the couple’s house on SW Hunt Club Road well into his 70s. Due to his seeming ability to repair almost anything, grandchildren nicknamed him “Grandpa Fix-It.” He was an early PC guy, teaching himself MS-DOS to network computers and transfer files.

In that same life story, John wrote: “There is no doubt in my mind that (my) greatest lifetime achievement is the creation of our family. We accomplished that creation with faith in our God. He rewarded us well.” John was predeceased by his parents and brothers Matt and Ed. He is survived by his wife, Carole; children Michelle Rafter (Jay), Susan Menendez (Mitch), Teresa Schneider (Joe), Mary Jo Vranizan (Robert Davis), and John P. Vranizan (Michelle); 14 grandchildren: Kate, Luke, and Aaron Rafter; Jennie, Amy, and Lucy Menendez; Matthew Schneider (Catrin Bernroth), Patrick Schneider, Sarah Morrow (Carl); Maya and Molly Cohen; and Gus, Charlie, and Joe Vranizan; as well as five great-grandchildren: Theodor, Ludvig and Leopold Schneider, and Juliette and Emory Morrow. Other survivors include John’s brother Ralph Vranizan, and numerous nieces and nephews and their families; cousins, and second cousins.

A funeral Mass will be held on May 21st at 11 am at St. John Fisher, preceded by a rosary at 10:30. The family would like to thank the staff of Legacy Hospice for their care of John in his last months.