John Marley Newport of Irrigon and Ukiah passed away unexpectedly at his home in Irrigon on Aug. 10, 2025 at the age of 69.
He was born on June 25, 1956 in Novato, Calif. to JM and Thelma Robbs Newport.
John grew up in the Walla Walla, Wash. and Ukiah areas, where he attended schools. He graduated from Ukiah High School in the class of 1974. After high school, he worked for the U.S. Forest Service fighting forest fires for the next two summers.
John worked at many different jobs throughout his career such as fork lift operator for Lamb Weston; equipment operator for Eastern Oregon Farms; maintenance worker in Fairbanks, Alaska; wastewater management at the Port of Morrow; Gilroy Foods and Cascade Specialties, where he help set up their food processing equipment; for Tillamook, where he received his PLC, refrigeration and electrical certifications; and Pioneer Seed Company, where he worked for six years until retiring in 2018. After retiring, he worked as a substitute teacher at Ukiah K-12 School.
John enjoyed fishing, camping, tinkering on projects and computers, prospecting, reading, riding his motorcycle on the open roads and collecting Minions. He enjoyed attending Burning Man at Black Rock City, Nev. for the annual event, where he had worked on the power crew, golf cart crew and Man Watch crew. He especially enjoyed spending time with his family, and his grandkids hold a special place in “Pop Pop’s” heart.
John married Brenda Gillett in Irrigon on Sept. 4, 1982.
He is survived by his wife of 42 years, Brenda; three daughters, Sarah (John) Christy, Betsy (Dan) Thompson and Rachel (Leeland) Lafferty; grandchildren,
Kaylee, Emma, Olivia, Marley, Rosemary, Evelyn, Theodore, Hunterlyn and Jeremiah; sister, Cheryl (Steve) Louis; brother, Mark (Mary) Stubblefield; sister-in-law, Gail Newport; and many nieces, nephews and extended family members.
He was preceded in death by his mother and stepfather, Thelma and Phil; father, JM; and brother, Tim.
Visitation will be on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025 from 3 to 5 p.m. at Burns Mortuary Chapel, Hermiston.
A celebration of life (wake) will be announced at a later time.
Please share memories of John with his family at burnsmortuaryhermiston.com.
Burns Mortuary of Hermiston is in care of arrangements.
