John Thomas Blair was born June 30, 1917 to John and Stella Blair in Meadow Creek, Idaho. His father died when he was just a few years old. He, his mother and two older brothers, Orville and Glen, moved to the Fairview/Gresham area of Oregon, where he grew up and graduated from Gresham High School in 1935. John joined the U.S. Navy in 1939 and served until 1944. In 1946, he met Ruby Strachan and on September 21, 1946 they were married. John and Ruby moved to Chicago for a short time and then returned to the West Coast; living in Nevada, Coos Bay, Oregon, Grand Coulee, Washington, Hermiston, Oregon, and finally settling in Pasco, Washington. John worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from 1950 to 1986, starting as a Powerhouse Electrician at Grand Coulee and McNary Dams, and advancing to Maintenance Superintendent for Ice Harbor and Lower Monumental Dams until his retirement. John reenlisted in the Navy Reserves and served 30 years as an active reservist. Throughout his career John proved himself to be an excellent electrician and welder, a skilled metal cutter, a good mechanic, and a great supervisor. John's greatest workplace asset was his ability to examine a problem and find an ingenious way to solve it. This approach to handling problems at the hydroelectric plants saved the Corps of Engineers, and ultimately the taxpayers, so much time and money John was dubbed "The Eight Million Dollar Man". After his retirement in 1986, John and Ruby enjoyed travelling across the country in their motorhome and taking trips to exotic places like Hawaii, the British Isles, Morocco, Spain, Australia, and China. John also enjoyed hunting, fishing, painting landscapes, and early in his marriage obtained a pilot's license. John was preceded in death by his wife of 63 years Ruby, his mother and brothers. He is survived by children John Jr., Linda Hughes, Deborah McCandless, Roberta Province, and William Blair; grandchildren Robert Blair, Michelle Blair, Ryan Blair, Jennifer McCandless and Megan McCandless; great-grandchildren Kendra Franzen, Samantha Franzen, Cody Blair, and Johnaye Blair. Funeral services will be held Monday, October 10, 2011, 10:00 a.m., at Mueller's Tri-Cities Funeral Home, 1401 S. Union Street, Kennewick, with military honors to follow at Desert Lawn Memorial Park.