April 11, 2025

Former DJC manager John Mihalyo dies

Mihalyo

Former DJC general manager John Mihalyo passed away on March 14, 2025, in Vancouver, Clark County. He was 82.

Born on Sept. 6, 1942, in New Britain, Connecticut, Mihalyo grew up the only child of John and Helen (Pacinda) Mihalyo. He attended public schools in New Britain and seminary in Pittsburgh before earning a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Connecticut in 1964.

Mihalyo began his newspaper career as a reporter in Massachusetts with the Fitchburg Sentinel. A short time later, he moved with his family to Seattle where he developed a career at the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce as a reporter, city editor and general manager. He found the challenges of the newspaper industry and those of his changing job roles to be endlessly interesting and rewarding.

Arriving home, he often expressed genuine gratitude to work somewhere where he “learned something new every day.”

Mihalyo was also a weekend oil painter and inspired backyard carpenter — building inventive structures at every place he lived.

He retired in 2000 and moved to Vancouver to be closer to his grandchildren and where he began years of volunteer work at the Clark County Courthouse and Portland Art Museum.

Mihalyo married the love of his life, Andreé Ferraris, on Nov. 23, 1963. With 62 years of marriage, they raised their three children, enjoyed attending the performing arts, traveled together on many adventures, and studied numerous world religions.

Mihalyo is survived by his wife Andreé Mihalyo; three children Jeffrey, Jennifer (Shane) Griffis, and Daniel (Annie Han); three granddaughters LaShea, Marisa, and Tamar; and two great-grandsons Anthony and Oliver.