John was born in Seattle WA in 1931 to Edwin and Vincenta Lamb. He moved to Astoria Oregon when he was a few months old. John graduated from Star of the Sea high school in 1949, went to Mt Angel Seminary and left there after two and a half years.  John got his BA in ’54, MS in Psychology in ’59 at University of Portland. He worked as a Psychologist for Rainier State School in WA, Oregon Fairview Home, and Portland Public Schools.  In 1960 John joined Tektronix, Inc. as a Consultant in Human Resources.  At retirement in 1983, he had moved up in rank to HR Manager for the Information Display Division (@ 2500 employees)

John was married to his college sweetheart in 1954.  Together they had 12 children, 6 boys and 6 girls. John was an avid hunter, and every deer and elk season provided him and opportunity to enjoy the great outdoors and spend time with his family and friends.  John started woodworking by making toys for his children.  As they grew older his kids wanted night stands, book cases, aquarium stands.  When they began to leave home, they wanted coffee tables, end tables, hi-fi stands, and with their marriages and grand kids came the need for cradles, cribs, changing tables, dressers. As the demand for furniture waned John started turning wood for his own pleasure.  He found a book by Dale Nish titled “Creative Woodturning” which became his tutor and inspiration.  John was hooked on turning from that point on. John was an active member of Northwest Woodturners, Cascade Woodturners, AAW, as well as a founding member of Pacific Northwest Woodturning Guild where he chaired the Standards Committee. John has demonstrated woodturning and had his work exhibited and sold in many galleries throughout the Northwest.