John Eric Muno - “Johnny” to many friends and family - died Friday, March 14 at home. He was 78. Known as a person of character, he sought to be kind to all. He had a sharp mind and a keen sense of humor.

Born May 21, 1946 to James and JoAnn Laffin Muno in Wisconsin, where his mom was visiting family, Johnny lived four years in southwestern Oregon, on land his dad farmed by day while working in a sawmill at night. The family moved to Fortuna when Johnny was four and his sister, Loralee, was seven.

Johnny grew up playing baseball, collecting baseball cards and following games on the radio. He became a lifelong Dodger fan at a young age and was elated when the Dodgers won the World Series in 1955 and many other times, most recently in 2024. He had a paper route, was an altar boy at St. Joseph Catholic Church, and had a childhood full of happy memories playing sports with friends and board games with his mom and sister. School was easy for him and music was an important part of his life. He played cello in the orchestra and was a tenor in the choir.

Valedictorian of the Fortuna High Class of 1964, Johnny went on to college and joined the U.S. Air Force where he was stationed in Germany for several years, playing baseball and basketball on military bases around Europe. He later completed a bachelor’s degree in sociology at Humboldt State and graduate classes at San Francisco State before returning to Fortuna, and following his father’s career, worked at Eel River Sawmill in Rio Dell for more than 30 years.

Music remained an important part of Johnny’s life and with his sister, Loralee, he performed at church events including weddings, funerals and holiday services. Loralee taught third grade at St. Bernard’s in Eureka, and led a children’s choir at Sacred Heart where Johnny would accompany the group on his guitar.

Sports were a significant part of Johnny’s life. In addition to following professional basketball and baseball, he played golf almost daily for 40 years, first at the Eureka Municipal Golf Course, and then at Redwood Empire in Fortuna, where he was a member. He joined the Six Rivers Running Club for several years and completed marathons. When he was no longer able to run, Johnny walked several miles each day around Fortuna, often with a book and a coffee mug to stop in a local café for a break. He was an avid reader with more than 600 books in his home.

Many did not know the extent that Johnny followed horse racing. A friend introduced him to a method of handicapping – determining which horse was best suited for a given race – which proved very successful. With a tenacious grasp of details and an analytical mind, he was able to bet profitably for many years in a time before computers made this information more widely available.

After retiring from Eel River Sawmill and following the death of his sister in 2001, Johnny sold the Fortuna home he had purchased and lived in with his parents and sister for years and moved to Royal Crest, the senior mobile home park in Fortuna. In addition to daily golf and walking, Johnny returned to an early interest in bridge, which he had learned from his mom and played during college. He joined the weekly bridge game at the Eureka Senior Center and was soon invited to take part in the Master-Level American Contract Bridge League which included retired college presidents and professors. It was a source of pride for Johnny, being skillful enough to hold his own in such tough competition.

Johnny also sought opportunities to bring music back into his life, joining the ukelele band taught by Gloria Gold at the Fortuna Senior Center. During this time, she encouraged him to join the Ukelaliens, a community string band based at Christ Lutheran Church in Fortuna as well as the Ferndale Choir.

It was with the Ferndale Choir that he got to perform Handel’s Messiah at New York City’s Carnegie Hall in November 2017, an experience he described as a high point in his life.

Covid brought an end to many of these activities for him and others, but Johnny continued walking, reading, following sports, and attending live music performances including the Eureka Symphony and the opera through the Met Live in HD at the Minor Theater in Arcata. Johnny also enjoyed time spent with Tracy O’Connell of Hydesville, his partner of nearly seven years, and the extended Pucillo family of Eureka.

In addition to these friends, Johnny is survived by cousins Anna Crow of Ashland, Montana; Marianna (Mike) Armstrong of San Diego; and Margaret (Rick) Praeger of Springfield, Oregon, as well as former classmates, golf buddies, bridge partners and fellow musicians whom he often remembered fondly.

In lieu of flowers, Johnny would ask donations be shared with St. Vincent de Paul’s Dining Facility of Eureka; Food for People or Hospice of Humboldt.

A viewing will be held at Goble’s Mortuary in Fortuna from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, March 28, with a Rosary at 6:30 p.m. A Mass of the Resurrection will be held at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Fortuna Saturday, March 29, at 10 a.m. with burial at Rohnerville Cemetery followed by a reception at the Monday Club, Fortuna.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of John Muno’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.