John A. Houser

John A. Houser (Big John), age 83 of Tacoma, WA passed away peacefully on September 4, 2025

John was born on October 11, 1941 in Phoenix, AZ to Floyd & Florence Houser. He grew up in Phoenix, AZ and Spirit Lake, ID

At the age of 17 John joined the Army and was stationed at Fort Dix, NJ as an MP. At Fort Dix he met and married his wife Sharon. They were married for 66 years and have 4 children, sons Michael (Kerri), Richard who passed away in 2020 (Pam), Greg and daughter Holly, 8 Grandchildren, Nellie, Nikki, Brandon, Bethany, Jonathan, Jason, Andrew and Justin. Twenty one Great Grandchildren and 2 Great Great Grandchildren, 6 brothers and sisters. Sisters Mary and Betty and he was preceded in death by Charles, Diane, Liz and Ed.

After serving in the Army for 3 years John and Sharon moved to Washington State where John worked for Boeing before joining the police force where he worked for the City Of Sumner Police Department until going on medical disability. In 1977 he started Big John’s Trophies. The business was started at their house and moved to its current location in 1981. John retired from the trophy shop in 2010.

John kept busy in his garage/wood shop after retirement. He loved making all kinds of things with wood from crosses to bowls and wood pictures, called intarsia. He sold a few but mostly gave them away.

During John's life he was involved in lots of organizations. From serving on the board of East Side Boys and Girls Club, Pierce County Bengals, and The Little White Church in Elbe. He loved judging local Chili Cook-Offs, Car Show’s and showing off his custom truck. In 2015, US Bank chose John to throw the 1st pitch at the Seattle Mariners game. More than 20 of his family and friends watched the game from a suite and he got to meet the moose, players and sit at the media table. He was very excited to be chosen. Another highlight of his life was helping with Habitat for Humanity. He went down with his church to Biloxi, MS to help build houses after Hurricane Katrina.

John loved to travel around the country and has been to or through every state in the USA.

John was a people person. He enjoyed talking to his friends and going out to breakfast at Angela’s and the Thunderbird.

A Celebration of Life will be held on April 11, 2026 at 11:30 am at Our Savior Lutheran Church Puyallup Campus, 720 W Main, Puyallup, WA

Cards and messages can be mailed to the Houser Family at: Big John’s Trophies, 5510 Pacific Ave. Tacoma, WA 98408.