Tributes: Inspirational family man, friend and educator

When John Traynor Sr. was in his “woodworking phase” in the 1970s, he gave his friends wooden plaques lacquered with a saying: “Joy is the most infallible sign of the presence of God,” a quote from Pierre Tielhard de Chardin, a Jesuit philosopher.

Traynor embodied these words. As a husband, father, friend and educator, he lived his life with joy.

“He’s the man with the half-full glass – the happiest person I have ever met. I don’t just mean a jokester-type person but truly, deeply happy. I’m kind of the half-empty-type person and he really filled me with a tremendous amount of joy and happiness,” said Barbara, his wife of 39 years.

Traynor, former president of Gonzaga Prep, died Nov. 2 after a 3 1/2 year battle with cancer. He was 66.

At his funeral, every seat and all three balconies at St. Aloysius Roman Catholic Church were filled.

Traynor was born in 1940 in Ontario, Canada. After finishing college he entered the Society of Jesus. At the time, Jesuits in Ontario were sent to Mount St. Michael’s Seminary in Spokane to study philosophy.

John and Barbara Arnold met during this time. She was a nurse at Sacred Heart Medical Center in the process of becoming a Sisters of Providence nun. Neither one had taken their final vows. They realized they were in love, and they would fulfill their vocation by serving God as a married couple.

Traynor began his teaching career in Vallejo, Calif., and taught history for 18 years at University High School in the Spokane Valley before becoming principal at Greenacres Middle School.

In 1989 he became principal at Gonzaga Prep, and in 1995, he became the school’s president – the first lay president of a Jesuit school in the United States. Traynor was diagnosed with a brain tumor in April 2003, and he retired in 2004.

Traynor is also survived by his son, John Jr., and daughters Elizabeth Jewell and Theresa Pearson.

“He never missed a game, recital or parent/teacher conference. He never missed any of it. That’s one of the ethics he taught us. You show up for family,” said John Jr.

“My dad was my idol,” said Pearson. “He was the most inspirational, motivational, emotional and loving person I have ever known.”

Jewell said she will always remember her dad’s beautiful singing voice.

“As I was growing up, he would break into song no matter where he was in the house. It could have been a musical or maybe an opera. Of course, as a teenager I would just say, ‘Oh Dad, please stop,’ ” said Jewell. “When I was real young, he would sing lullabies to me before bedtime, and I carried that lullaby with me, and now I sing it to my two young sons at night before they go to bed.”

Over the years, Traynor received many awards. He was selected as the 1984 Central Valley School District Teacher of the Year and received the St. Aloysius Gonzaga Medal, the Bishop’s Medal and the 2004 Distinguished Administrator of the Year award by the Washington Foundation of Independent Schools.

In 2004 the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus honored Traynor for the work he did in bringing lay people and Jesuits together for projects. He became the first recipient of the “John Traynor Award for Collaboration in Jesuit Mission.”

A person’s character is revealed by how they deal with adversity, John Jr. said. His father was left with disabilities after his surgery in 2003.

His dad loved to write, but his right hand no longer worked; he loved to dance but could walk only with difficulty and a cane; he loved to sing and wax poetic, but his speech was affected.

But Traynor faced these disabilities with grace and an unwavering spirituality.

In his father’s eulogy, John Jr. wrote, “He left us with a great void to be filled by our own relationships, by our own commitments to others and by our own ‘joy’ – that infallible sign of the presence of God.”