Alan Johnson OBITUARY
Alan Harry Johnson passed away peacefully, from complications of Parkinsons disease, on Saturday, June 1, 2024. Al graduated from The Tamalpais School for Boys in 1952 and Stanford University in 1956, and Stanford Business School in 1958. Al met his future wife, Sally Williams, in Chem lab at Stanford and the two of them spent many happy years together, until her death in April 2018.As a youngster in the 1940’s and ’50’s and the only living child of Margery McArthur Johnson and Harry Johnson, Alan travelled the world in style on worldwide cruises and tours around Europe for his father’s business. Travel remained a passion throughout his life as he visited all seven continents and 49 states. His children plan to make a trip to North Dakota to honor his final bucket list state. He shared his love for travel with his children who will never forget the annual road trips across the US and Canada. Al’s love of National Parks, nature and road trip traditions are part of his legacy. Layered on top were trips with grandkids to explore Washington DC, Alaska, Costa Rica, California, Idaho and Colorado. Learning and experiencing new cultures were always at the core of these trips.After years of work using his engineering and business degrees in manufacturing, which took his growing family to Southern California, Ohio and Silicon Valley, Al settled in the Stockton area in 1971 to pursue a career in the wine industry, followed by several small business endeavors. Al devoted his retirement time to the communities of Lodi, Stockton, and Manteca California. Whether he was supporting young entrepreneurs at SCORE, guiding schoolchildren to see the famous Egyptian mummy at the Haggin Museum, or blacksmithing at the San Joaquin Historical Society’s ‘Valley Days’, Al loved to share his skills and expertise. Al was bound by a strong belief in family. He spoke about how proud he was of his children individually and expressed how the joy increased exponentially with grandchildren. But what made him most proud was that his 5 children got along together. He said there is no better joy in life than to have your children enjoy each other as adults. Papa Alan was famous for the speech he gave his grandkids before college. To quote Al, “Make more good decisions than bad decisions and you will be successful in life”. Al enjoyed the past 6 years as a resident of Byron Park in Walnut Creek. He enjoyed the role of ambassador which entailed dining with new residents and welcoming them. We are grateful for the kind friends he met and his devoted caregivers.Al was preceded in death by his wife Sally and his daughter Christine Ann.He is survived by his children: Steven Arthur Johnson (Kathryn), Jennifer Susan Potier (Neil), Linda Sarah Gidre (Jeff) and Thomas Alan Johnson (Janie). He will be missed by ten grandchildren, who he treasured and admired, and four great-grandchildren, who brought him great joy. In lieu of flowers, a donation can be made to any of Al’s favorite charities: The San Joaquin County Historical Society & Museum, The Haggin Museum, Save the Redwoods League, Yosemite Foundation, and the Michael J Fox Foundation.
