On Wednesday June 19, 2024, John Soule Gladding died suddenly and unexpectedly at home.

He was born on July 2,1962 in Oakland and moved to Eureka with his family at the age of five. He attended Worthington Elementary, Zane Junior High and graduated from Eureka High in 1980. He attended HSU and earned his BA in Economics in June 1984. John attended Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island, was commissioned in the Navy in 1985 and served on board the Command Ship USS Coronado until his honorable discharge as Lieutenant, Junior Grade in February 1989. During a 10-month tour based out of Gaeta, Italy, he participated in operations in the Gulf of Sidr and the Persian Gulf. He also sailed to Greece, Yugoslavia, and Bahrain on diplomatic assignments, then was stationed in Pearl Harbor for the remainder of his service. He received several citations and awards for exemplary performance under arduous and dangerous conditions while in the Mediterranean Sea and Persian Gulf.

He was released from active duty and transferred to Naval reserve until 1993, and during that time he continued his education at Humboldt State University to obtain his MBA. He was the executive director for the American Red Cross in Eureka for over 10 years and traveled to Carmel, Bakersfield, Ouray, Colorado and New Orleans, Louisiana to serve as interim executive director.

He met the love of his life, Karen, in 1994 and they married in 2002. They shared a wonderful life together in Eureka — loved to travel, attend music festivals, hike, camp, read and recently enjoyed their 22nd anniversary in Napa. They traveled to many cities in California, visited family in Arizona, Washington State, New Jersey and New York. Their favorite travel destination was Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where they snorkeled, zip-lined, parasailed, hiked, rode horses on the beach, enjoyed amazing food and the company of good friends.

He retired from the Red Cross in 2004 to manage their rentals full time and continue to travel. John stayed active in the community as a member of Henderson Center Kiwanis, and as a Board Member of Coast Central Credit Union.

He is survived by his wife, companion and travel buddy Karen, brother Mike Gladding (Sydne), nieces Sara Yoshihara (Shuzo), Crystal Leffler (Jed), Molly Gladding, nephews Jeff Gladding (Steph), Steve Gladding (Becca) and numerous grandnieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his parents Allen and Jean Gladding and beloved dogs Tutt and Bailey. His favorite quote was attributed to Groucho Marx, “Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside a dog, it’s too dark to read.”

John will be greatly missed. He left us before he had a chance to finish his great life adventures. He was a wonderful husband, brother, and uncle and a great friend to many. Many thanks go out to the 911 operator, firefighters, paramedics and sheriffs who responded so quickly to try to help John. Thank you to the donor network for carrying out his wishes to continue to help others through organ donation. A special thanks to Mark at Humboldt Crematorium for helping Karen through many difficult decisions and for taking excellent care of John before sending him on his last journey.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Miranda’s Rescue, Humboldt Spay and Neuter, the American Red Cross or the charity of your choice in his memory. A celebration of life for John will be held sometime in late August and will be announced later, on Karen’s Facebook page.