Obituary: Russell F. Johnson

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Russell F. Johnson
Russell F. Johnson

Russell F. Johnson passed in his sleep Feb. 23, 2014 after a two-month fight against acute leukemia. Even 59 years of loving each other was not long enough, says Grace.

Russell F. Johnson was born to Violet and Roy Johnson on January 1, 1937 in Waterbury. Russ went to Tufts University for college and graduated with a B.S. in chemical engineering. A MBA from Harvard Business School followed. His first career was as a process engineer with Naugatuck Chemical Company. A 1971 move to the San Francisco Bay area led him to redirect his skills and training to mergers and acquisitions at Amax Aluminum Company. After a 20-something year career with Amax, he took his skills to Fujitsu Microelectronics in Silicon Valley as manager of mergers and acquisitions and patent director. Russ also found time for many years on the Board of Directors of the San Francisco YMCA, on the Board of Directors for Amigos de Las Americas, serving as chairman of the Board of Christian Education at the Covenant Church in Redwood City and more recently monitoring the water quality at Eastman Lake in New Hampshire. He loved cooking, creating a cookbook of family recipes, hunting (pheasant, boar, deer, elk and even moose) and travelling with Grace to many parts of the world.

Russ’ family, including his beloved wife Grace of 52 years, loving sons, Dr. Craig Johnson of Glendale, Caif., and Dr. Blair Johnson of Boston and their families were his pride and joy, and the love of his life.

Upon retirement Russ and Grace sold their vacation condo on Monterey Bay, built a home at the Village of Eastman in Grantham, N.H., to be near their son Blair and family for the summer and fall months, and bought a home on the Southern California coast, in Oxnard, to be near their son Craig and family during the winter months.

A celebration of life service and burial will be held at Conejo Mountain Memorial Park, 2052 Howard Road, Camarillo, Calif., at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 8.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be sent to World Vision or Heiffer International.