Calvin Eugene Severns

Calvin ‘Cal’ Eugene Severns

December 19, 1949 – November 11, 2025 The arc of Cal’s life is impossible to shape in a few words. What is unarguably true is that Cal knew how to love and was deeply loved in return. A bright, curious man who enjoyed many things; especially motorcycles, tennis, good food and fine wine, friends, family, travel, hiking, paleontology, history, architecture, a wide genre of music, and his wife Jo Ann Fjellman, and daughter, Anika Severns. His life, like his mothers, was impacted by Parkinson’s early in life. Cal grew up in Chehalis, WA. He excelled academically, went to Boys State in high school, and received a university scholarship. Cal and Jo met in Bellingham, WA in Dec 1980. They moved to Eugene, OR where he studied law and then pursued an MBA. Eventually they traveled north to Seattle, where he entered the fine wine industry for a 30+ year career. Cal enjoyed many trips abroad with family and work colleagues; such as hiking in the Japanese Alps, wine tasting in Italy, France, and Australia, kayaking in the Sea of Cortez and the Broken Group off of Vancouver Island and traveling with Anika (age 3) for 2 months throughout Costa Rica, plus so much more. Cal believed in exposing oneself to the richness of diverse cultures, both at home and abroad. Anika was in 12 countries by the time she was 13 and Cal and Jo hosted 8 different international students, 4 of them for 6 months or more.

Some of Cal's fondest memories were of riding a motorcycle. His first bike, at age 12, was a Tote Gote that he rode around his family's 20 acres in Chehalis, where he learned to crash and walk away. Cal participated in many motorcycle rallies with friends, but a 6 week tour through-out the four corners region in 1982 was one of Jo and Cal's best (and cheapest) vacations. It must be said that riding his custom smoke-painted BMW was his all-time favorite ride until 2015 when Parkinson’s could no longer be denied. Cal and Jo eventually moved to Sequim in 2018 looking for a slower pace of life surrounded by mountains and nature.

Cal will be remembered for his fierce, yet graceful navigation of a life that included a 20+ year journey with Parkinson’s. Throughout it all, his sense of humor and love for life never wavered and he handled everything with deep grace and a stubborn will. He will be deeply missed, especially in moments of quick wit and laughter, or when a trivia fact eludes the rest of us. Cal's attention to detail and memory recall was the stuff of legends. He was a deeply loving man to family and friends, a dedicated partner, and a really awesome dad. He departed (this world) during the aurora borealis lights to ride his motorcycle on a free and open road. He is survived by his wife, Jo Ann Fjellman, his daughter Anika Kirsten Fjellman Severns, son-in-law Lars van Liempt of The Hague, The Netherlands, brother Ken Severns and Sister-in-law Lori Severns, nephew Blake Severns of Chehalis, WA and niece Jessica Severns of Redwood, CA.