June 15th, 1933 - April 2nd, 2024
We celebrate the life of Wesley Alexander Johnson, Jr., who passed away April 2, 2024 at the home he shared in Boulder, Colorado with his wife, Joanne Marie (Rust) Johnson.
He will be profoundly missed by Joanne, daughters AnnMarie Johnson and Nancy Lynne (Johnson) Cowger, son Paul Rust Johnson, granddaughter Abby Lake Johnson, daughter-in-law Ellen Susan Macdonald, son-in-law John Preston Cowger, sister Janet (Johnson) Engstrom, and many other friends and family who knew him. Wes was born June 15, 1933, and grew up in the tiny town of Hammer, South Dakota, where his parents, Wesley Alexander Johnson and Mabel Olida (Stave) Johnson were the 2nd-generation owners of the well-managed grocery and general store where many of the town’s residents gathered. By all accounts, Wes had an adventurous boyhood, and relished growing up in Hammer with his three siblings - Margie, George & Janet - and became an excellent student, athlete, and musician during his school years. Wes earned multiple postgraduate degrees, including his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from University of Minnesota in 1962. Wes & Joanne were married on October 23, 1959, and lived in several locales – Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Arkansas - while raising their family of three children.
Wes showed an uncanny ability throughout his life to master new skills and to ‘re-invent’ himself. His professional career spanned his veterinary practice with his entrepreneurial large and small animal clinics in North Dakota and Oklahoma, his veterinary service at the Oklahoma City Zoo, as a USDA veterinary medical officer for the Food Safety and Inspection Service in Arkansas and neighboring states, and ultimately in Washington D.C. When many might have spent their off-work hours in recreation, Wes took on the challenge of starting a blueberry farming operation in Arkansas from a handful of seedlings, learning the process along the way and involving his family in its maintenance.
Once their children were off to start their own livelihoods, Wes & Joanne moved to Silver Spring, Maryland, with both establishing careers in Washington, D.C. (Wes with the USDA and later FDA, and Joanne with the Department of Treasury). After Wes retired from veterinary practice in 1995, the couple purchased residential property in Houston, Texas, in the area where daughter AnnMarie lived. Joanne continued her career as an accountant in Houston, and Wes successfully built two homes on their property, while learning advanced carpentry and other building skills along the way. He applied these skills further as a general contractor on projects that included the renovation of the home and accounting office for AnnMarie and her then husband and business partner R Davis Maxey. Wes & Joanne moved in 2010 to Boulder, Colorado, to be near son Paul and his wife Ellen, and were thrilled to be in the right place when granddaughter Abby arrived.
Wes was a U.S. Army Veteran as a young man and was trained in Army Language School in Monterey, CA as a Russian language specialist during the Cold War. While stationed in Germany, he traveled to the Island of Karmøy in Norway where his maternal grandparents were born and delighted his clan of relatives with his visit. Wes made such an impression on his Norwegian relatives that they welcomed him with open arms when he visited again in 2007 (~ 50 years later) with Joanne, AnnMarie & Nancy. Travel has been a shared passion for Wes & Joanne, and they enjoyed memorable trips to England, Italy, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Greece, and Turkey, as well as many sites in the U.S.
Wes loved to tell stories and was an active listener – he naturally drew people into animated conversation, whether they were someone he knew or had just met. He adored kids, and especially delighted in watching his granddaughter Abby grow & thrive. Wes’ kindness, curiosity about the world, and lifelong love of learning have inspired his family, and we’ve treasured our many years together with this wonderful man.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to: https://www.chautauqua.com/support-us/ or https://www.rewild.org/
