John Harry Wright was born to Leroy and Louise Wright in 1942 in Chicago.  After his mother passed away, he moved with his father to Del Mar, CA where he joined the Air Force with his best friend, Norman Snyder at the age of 19. In 1966 he met and married Gloria after a blind date and they shared just over 55 wonderful years together.  They had two girls, Tammy and Connie who blessed them with three wonderful grandchildren.  Austin, Zach and Kayla.

After they wed, John worked as a machinist for several companies.  His favorite was OAR, where he helped create the transmitter that was used to track the Sea World whale, Gigi in 1971. In the late 1970's, John opened his own machine shop from his home in Encinitas and called it J. Wright Engineering.  He enjoyed designing and making things.  He designed the landscaping for their home in Carlsbad and built a wonderful family gazebo in the backyard in the late 1980's.  John was a beautiful craftsman and took pride in the furniture and wood carvings he frequently made. Mom still has the corner bathroom cabinet he made for her. In the early 1990's, he ran for President of the HOA Board in their community and won.  One of the biggest challenges was keeping a homeowner from erecting a satellite dish on the HOA slope behind his home.  As a gift to those on the board, he created a miniature satellite dish statue to thank everyone for their support to keep the neighborhood looking beautiful. In 2001, John and Gloria moved from San Diego County to Temecula and it was here that dad took up riding motorcycles again and purchased his first Harley Davidson.  He would ride his prized hog until their move to Spokane in 2007, where he sold it to a dear friend who still has it and enjoys it to this day. In his retirement years in Spokane, one of the things John loved was a wood carving club he joined.  He carved a beautiful wooden rifle and pistol which received blue ribbons in the local fair.   He also was a lover of trains, big and small. In the basement of their Spokane home, John created his own "train room", building scaled down replicas of the Spokane Steam Plant, Train Station, St. Aloysius church and the Clock Tower.  He even made the tool that helped him create these landmarks! John was a man who loved his God, his family and friends, very much.  Even though he was not raised a Catholic, he attended church with his family, supporting them for 55 years and on October 21, 2021, he was finally baptized by Deacon Craig.