With the Sequim Irrigation Festival set to begin in a little over three weeks, the Sequim Gazette looks to its pioneers for some perspective on Sequim and the festival going into its 123rd consecutive year from May 4-13.

First up is Grand Pioneer Wilma Rhodefer Johnson, 85, a fourth generation Sequimite, who says it’s an honor to be recognized as a grand pioneer.

“I think my family has been an active part of the community for all these years, so it’s nice to have the recognition,” she said. “It’s not for me. It’s for them.”

Wilma’s great-grandfather John Perdue Tiller settled in Sequim in 1897 as a blacksmith along the Dungeness River near the current Dungeness Fish Hatchery.

Her grandparents (Wilma’s mother Clara’s parents) Ernest and Bertha Sprague moved to Sequim in 1922 where Ernest became Clallam County’s first licensed mortician and built Sequim Valley Chapel.

Wilma’s parents Bill and Clara Rhodefer were married there, she said, and later Wilma was born on West Sequim Bay Road. She went on to graduate from Sequim High in 1950 and fondly remembers being one of three cheerleaders that school year too.

She’s lived in Sequim most of her life aside from six years in Concrete when her husband Dan Johnson logged there. They moved back to Sequim after six years and Dan started the road clearing business Dan Dee Construction.

The couple met while Wilma worked at the Clallam Co-Op and they later married in 1956. Dan and Wilma would have three children who all went to Faith Baptist Christian School. Now they have six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Dan died two days before Thanksgiving in 2015, she said. The couple lived on Miller Road for 59 years and now she lives in The Fifth Avenue.

Wilma also worked at Far West Gas and sold real estate including four years at her own office Dan Dee Realty. Wilma later focused on property management after merging her business with another business.

Later, she became more active with the Christian school helping with bookkeeping and as a teacher’s aide. She was also active with the Republican Party.

For close to 30 years she’s played piano in Sequim including Evangelical Free Church and now Faith Baptist Church. She also plays often at Avamere, Sherwood Manor and The Fifth Avenue.

Wilma says the logging show and parade remain annual highlights for her.

She fondly remembers her early days at the festival as a community gathering that’s continued to grow and appeal more and more to people outside of Sequim.

For more information on Irrigation Festival events, visit www.irrigationfestival.com.

Reach Matthew Nash at mnash@ sequimgazette.com.

In high school, Wilma Rhodefer, left, participated as one of three cheerleaders in Sequim with Tommy Groat and Muriel Hawley. Photo courtesy of Wilma Rhodefer Johnson