JOHN WHITSON OBITUARY

John Robert Whitson, Jr., was born in Livermore, Calif., on December 12, 1969, to John Robert Whitson, Sr., and Ethel Elisabeth Anna Sumlak Whitson. Part of his childhood was spent in nearby Pleasanton until the family relocated to Metzger, Ore., in 1977. His father was an accountant and took a job in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, when John was a student at Oregon Episcopal School, from which he graduated in 1988. In 1986, his sophomore year in high school, John was a survivor of the OES climbing tragedy on Mt. Hood, the second-deadliest alpine accident in North American history.

Studying at Lewis and Clark College, he spent time as an exchange student in Sapporo, Japan, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in History in 1992. His final thesis project was on the Rajneeshi cult’s presence in Oregon in the 1970s. While living in the Bay Area for a little over 10 years, “JW” worked at two different music wholesale companies and founded the record label Holy Mountain, which released well over 100 albums and singles by 60 different artists from all over the world. To describe the music by one of the bands on his label, he coined the term “funhausen,” a portmanteau referencing the Stooges’ Funhouse and German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen, but it very efficiently describes his vision for the imprint as a whole: experimental and psychedelic music that rocked.

For most of his life, John did not drive; when he acquired a license and a vehicle in his 50s, he applied his legendary zeal to “just driving around.” His uncanny knack for discovering delicious and occasionally exotic food in unlikely, unassuming locations was well served by the expanded range of his frequent explorations.

In addition to his musical pursuits, JW was a voracious reader of crime fiction and “tell-all” sports histories, a rabid consumer of underground comedy, and a staunch fan of the Portland Trail Blazers basketball team, especially their infamous “Jail Blazers” era of the late 1990s.

Along with his impeccable taste across multiple art forms, JW’s acerbic, oblique sense of humor belied a warm, generous heart that endeared him to a wide circle of friends and collaborators.

He passed away in the early hours of July 7, 2025, surrounded by friends and music. His ashes will be spread in the beautiful PacNW forests that he loved to explore. A memorial service celebrating his life and love of live music will be held at the end of September in Portland.

If you can’t attend, you are encouraged to honor his memory on this day by listening to music you’ve never heard by an artist you’ve never heard of, and cook some food with herbs and spicy peppers you’re not sure how to pronounce, and use at least one ingredient sourced from a place it’d take you several seconds to locate on a map.