Joe Gunther, our much-loved husband, dad and grandpa passed away on Thursday, August 27th at Wellspring Memory Care in Centralia. His peaceful passing came at the end of a decade long struggle with Alzheimer's.

Joe was known to his family and friends as a kind, quiet, humble and sometimes very serious man.

Yet, those who knew him the best knew that under that sensitive, wise and quiet manner was a sharp sense of humor, many funny stories to tell, with the occasional zinger that kept us all laughing and on our toes.

Joe was born on May 1st, 1947 in Tacoma, Washington. He graduated from high school in 1965 and went to Western Washington University to pursue a teaching degree at the urge of one of his high school teachers. She saw in him a kindness and compassion for others and an organized way of getting through his days she thought he should be sharing with others.

It was at Western that Joe met Kathy Blanton who would become his wife and best friend for the remainder of his life. They were married in 1969, and both started teaching careers in Whatcom County. After a few years of teaching, Joe was encouraged to pursue a Masters in School Administration. He worked toward that goal over several years. In 1975, after years of simultaneously teaching, working summers driving a berry picking bus, and taking classes at night, he finally completed his Masters.

It was during those years that Joe and Kathy also welcomed two beautiful children into their lives.

Mike in 1974 and Karen in 1975.

Joe's job search brought him to Centralia in 1981 when he was hired as an Assistant Principal at the then Junior High. He went on to become principal at Edison Elementary until his retirement in 1999. After retirement Joe continued to work for the school district in various roles as a mentor, state testing coordinator and facilitator of many other projects.

Joe was known as a "teacher's principal." His number one goal was to provide the safest and most positive learning environment possible on an everyday basis. He always had a desk or two in his office for those kids who might be having a hard day and just needed to be out of the classroom for a while. He would work side-by-side with them while somehow managing to keep on top of his other tasks.

Joe loved to golf, fish, ski, garden, watch sports and to fix and build things. But the thing he cared about the most was spending time building memories with his family. He waited patiently until 2008 when Kathy retired to do the "trailering" and road tripping he wanted to do in their retirement years.

Joe is survived by his wife of 57 years, Kathy; his son Mike, daughter-in-law Stacy, and grandson Jaxon; his daughter Karen, son-in-law Steve, and granddaughter Olivia.

We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to the caring staff of Wellspring Memory Care, as well as the compassionate care team of Assured Hospice.

In lieu of flowers, our family suggests that a memorial contribution in Joe's memory be made to Assured Hospice of Centralia or Immanuel Lutheran's Kids' Kloset.

A memorial service and celebration of Joe's life will be held at Immanuel Lutheran at 2pm, Friday, October 9, 2026.