Anyone experiencing a safe flight on a Boeing Co. 747 could tip a hat to John Collett, who invented cockpit instruments that note altitude and if the plane is level.
“He was an engineering genius,” said Gary Collett, his son. “He was also instrumental in the creation of the black box.”
John Collett worked as an electrical engineer at Honeywell and for the Boeing Co. After Collett retired 20 years ago, he and his wife, Mary June, worked in Israel joining archeological digs of biblical sites.
They also helped with Bridges for Peace – a Christian organization building relationships between Christians and Jews – to provide food for the needy in Israel.
The couple, who used to live in Snohomish, died just weeks apart. John, 83, died Oct. 14, and Mary June Collett, 84, died Nov. 13, a day before their 64th wedding anniversary. He had several strokes and she had cancer.
“Her death had a lot to do with Dad being gone,” their son said. “They had been together for 63 years. Her whole life was wrapped around him.”
Mary June was born in Kansas to Charles and Myrtle Easterling. She was the oldest of four children. John, born in Oklahoma to Andrew and Pearl Collett, had a brother and six sisters. The family moved to Kansas, where he met his bride at college.
They married in 1942 and had two sons, Garold Ray “Gary,” and James Leslie, who died 32 years ago.
John served in the Navy during World War II and then graduated cum laude at Seattle Pacific University.
The couple traveled in their motor home ministering. They worked for a program called Servants on Wheels Ever Ready, traveling to churches, schools and camps.
They are survived by their son, Gary Collett; grandson and granddaughter-in-law, Jeff and Jennifer Collett; granddaughter, Melissa Ocompo; and granddaughter Tynnae. They also had five great grandchildren.
Balancing the budget for Everett Women’s Aglow Fellowship was a task for Mary June, who used to own a health food store, said friend Joann Snell.
“Mary June was very down-to-earth and believed in ministering to the whole person; body, soul and spirit,” Snell said. “Healthy food and proper care of our physical bodies was important to her.
“She would remind us that cultivating good, healthy activities and relationships were meant to feed the soul, never neglect the relationship with Jesus and always feed our spirit on the word of God.”
She said the Colletts were a great blessing to many people. The couple attended Snohomish Free Methodist Church and offered Bible study classes in their home.
“She never let the devil get away with anything,” said friend Carole Smythe. “She would say, in her Kansas accent, ‘That’s just the devil and you have authority over him so tell him he has to leave in the name of Jesus.’ “
Those who knew John remember he always wore a tool kit around his neck, said his son. The pouch held a wrench, a screwdriver and a tape measure.
Relatives who wanted the couple to pay a visit had to supply a to-do list of things John could fix.
If they didn’t produce a long list, they wouldn’t stay long, his son said.
Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451 or oharran@heraldnet.com.
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