Col. John H. Bannick, Retired Officer, Dedicated Family Man

Col. John H. Bannick, a career Army officer who served as a general staff officer under Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, was the quintessential family man.

Family values inherited from his father, a former Seattle police chief and King County sheriff, shaped an ethical, strictly principled man and created a father who made the 6 p.m. dinner table a regular family venue. A desire to be near family ultimately brought Mr. Bannick back to the Seattle area after he had lived in virtually every corner of the world.

He died Friday in Bellevue, surrounded by family members. He was 82.

"He was a very good father," said his son, Richard, an Air Force lieutenant colonel, who remembers his father as a 6 foot 2 inch, 200-pound man with "a relatively determined countenance" softened by a quick smile, a great sense of humor and "soft, baby blue eyes" that always looked directly at people during conversations.

"He was always there for us when we needed him," said his son. "He used to say, `Don't worry. There's no problem, no hurdle you can't get over.' He was a hurdler in track, so he used that analogy often."

The son of Claude G. Bannick, Mr. Bannick was proud of his father, who ingrained in him a sense of never doing anything that seemed to smack of wrong- doing.

Occasionally this firmness would bother acquaintances, but it remained Mr. Bannick's credo.

Though Mr. Bannick grew up in a strict household "where parents did the talking and children did the listening," his son said that when his father had his own family, he made sure everyone, children included, got a chance to speak.

Mr. Bannick was born Aug. 17, 1911. He grew up in the Madrona area of Seattle and graduated from Garfield High School and the University of Washington, where he was a varsity hurdler. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1935. He married Marjorie Brouillette in 1940.

During World War II, Mr. Bannick served in Alaska and the South Pacific.

In January 1945, he was assigned to the general staff of Adm. Chester Nimitz, and was personally decorated by Nimitz for his efforts at Iwo Jima.

He later went on to serve on Gen. Eisenhower's original NATO staff in France.

Mr. Bannick returned to Seattle after his retirement to be close to family.

Though he received honors for his military service, he rarely wore his decorations. Final instructions that he left for after his death requested a simply carved gravestone.

He wanted no epitaph, beyond his name on one side and his wife's name on the other.

Explained his son Richard, "He didn't believe in showiness. He always felt his record should speak for itself."

Survivors include his wife, Marjorie, of Bellevue; sons Richard, of Arlington, Va., and John Jr., of Boston; three sisters, Mary Wilson, Barbara Lockhart and Christine Lunke, all of Bellevue, and two grandchildren.

A vigil will take place at 8:30 tonight at Green's Bellevue Funeral Home, 1215 140th Ave., S.E.. Services will be at 11 a.m. tomorrow at St. Monica Catholic Church, 4301 88th Ave. S.E., Mercer Island. Remembrances may be sent to Children's Hospital and Medical Center.