John Stewart Wesselink

John Stewart Wesselink passed away peacefully at his home in Bellingham, WA on January 16, 2026. John was born July 5, 1945 in Washington, DC to Gerritt W. Wesselink and Marion Paton Wesselink. He grew up in the Maryland suburbs of DC and attended Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School where, by his own admission, he was an “average student.” After graduation in 1963 he enrolled at Hope College in Holland, MI, his father’s alma mater. After two years at Hope he dropped out and joined the Navy in 1965. He was assigned to the USS Forrestal. He was an aviation boatswain’s mate in charge of the cables that hooked the returning planes landing on the ship’s deck. John was on duty when, on July 29, 1967 tragedy struck the aircraft carrier. The Forrestal was in the Gulf of Tonkin supporting troops in Vietnam when explosives on deck were ignited by friendly fire. The resulting explosions took the lives of 134 seamen and did millions of dollars damage to the ship. John was uninjured but recalled seeing steel beams buckling over his head. John was honorably discharged in the fall of 1969 and moved to Bellingham, WA where he enrolled at Western Washington University, majoring in Literature and minoring in Art History. He graduated in 1976. The reason it took him six years to graduate was he took time off during 1974-75 to travel for 14 months in Central and South America. He did most of his travel hitch hiking or taking local transportation. He traveled the bulk of the Amazon sleeping in a hammock on the deck of a steamer. He made it all the way to Tierra del Fuego. After graduation John completed a 2 year pre-nursing program at Skagit Valley College. He realized that nursing was not going to be a viable career choice. He was also getting the urge to travel again. So he took a job in a Bellingham cannery working long hours to make enough money to travel for 16 months in Africa. He studied multiple cultures and even learned bits of different African languages prior to leaving. He traveled in a fashion similar to the way he had traveled in South America. He hitched rides, took local transportation, hooked up with other travelers, and even begged a ride on a truck crossing the Sahara Desert. Before he left for Africa he had taken the US Postal Service exam so he would have a job to come back to. He recalled having to make a call from Ghana asking the Post Office to hold a job for him. After 16 months in Africa John returned to Bellingham where a job at the Bellingham USPS was waiting for him. He started work 2 days after his return. John delivered mail for the next 24 years, most of it in the Columbia neighborhood. He was beloved by the families on his route. He retired July 7, 2007. Upon his retirement he was presented with a book that was created by “his families”, adults and children, containing notes, pictures, and stickers telling how much he meant to them. That book meant the world to him. The community planted trees for him in Elizabeth Park and laid a plaque in his honor.

John never stopped learning. When asked on a questionnaire, given to him by Hospice workers, what gave him comfort, what he valued most he answered “Truth and Knowledge.” The most prominent example of his love of learning is his interest in trees. He decided to learn all about the wonderful trees of Bellingham. He became a self-taught dendrologist. He mapped all the trees in the Bellingham parks. To many in Bellingham he was known as the Tree Man. He didn’t stop there. Between 2008 and 2010 he traveled to each quadrant of the US (SE, SW, and NE—he said “I’d already done the NW”) and identified at least one example tree of the approximately 780 native species. By his own admission he missed “maybe 10 or 12 trees.” In 2016 he took his last trip, this time to New Caledonia where there are numerous native trees that grow nowhere else in the world. He flew halfway around the world, brushed up on his French so he could communicate with the French speaking expert guide he had connected with, and fought severe back problems to make this journey. “It was all worth it,” he said.

John was a true renaissance man. His learning didn’t end with trees. He decided to learn as many stars in the heavens that he could—he learned to identify over 1,400 of them! He woke up many mornings and recited to himself all the US presidents in chronological order. He could probably tell you who the vice president was on the losing ticket for most elections. He attended both Shakespeare festivals and blues festivals. Shortly before becoming ill he had started studying shrubs, wild flowers and weeds. He owned dozens of books on those subjects. John was also an avid Mariners and Seahawks fan.

In his final days he was taken care of by Peace Health Hospice, his younger brother Malcolm, and good friends. John always wanted do things on his own, not wanting to be a bother to anyone. In his last days he admitted, “I couldn’t have done it without you.” As one friend said, “he was a loner who connected with so many people in so many different and significant ways.”

John is survived by his brother Malcolm Wesselink and his wife Sally Ward; his sister Lyn Seley and her husband Bob Fee; his nephew Gerritt Wesselink; his niece Amelia Wesselink and her husband Tim Maher; his nephew Ben Fee; his grand niece and nephew Ayla and Otto Maher; his grandnephew Dante Fee; and many good friends throughout the Bellingham community.

In lieu of flowers please send donations in John’s name to Peace Health Hospice, Bellingham, WA or any progressive organization of your choice. Or plant a tree in John’s honor.