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Ron Johnson

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"Great story of a gracious man and his enduring family...."
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J. Ronald (Ron) Johnson

1927-2012

Ron Johnson, 84, passed away peacefully on June 17, 2012 in Palm Desert, California. Ron was the second of eight children of John and Catharine Johnson. He is survived by six of his sisters and brothers (Catharine, Marilyn, Bud, Father Ted, Jack and Paul) and predeceased by his brother Allan and his parents. He grew up on his family's farm, Maple Grove Farms, located in Parkhill, Ontario, Canada, which celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2007. It is still a working dairy farm and orchard under Ron's brother Jack and two of his sons. He did his undergraduate work on full scholarship at the University of Guelph and received his B.S. in General Agriculture and Horticulture. He also attended Michigan State on full scholarship and received his M.S in Agricultural Economics and Horticulture. He finished his postgraduate education at Cornell University and received his Ph.D. in Marketing and Business Management. He turned down an offer of professorship at the University of Maine and a teaching position of University of California at Berkeley to pursue a business career. He met Christine (Chris) McIntyre, from Bad Axe, Michigan, at the Newman Center at Michigan State University. They fell in love and were married in 1952 by Monsignor MacEachin in East Lansing, Michigan. They celebrated 59 years of marriage in September 2011. Ron and Chris had seven children (Ron, Kevin, Mike, David, Mary, John and Christine), who with their spouses (Valerie, Holly, Sloan, Tom, Laura and Steve) blessed the family with fifteen grandchildren (Katie, Charley, Michelle, Bailey, Courtney, Kiley, Jennifer, Max, Chandler, Matt, Brooke, Christine, Kyle, Colin and Tyler). All thirty immediate family members reside in California, and Ron's greatest joy was regular family get-togethers at Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter. He and Chris enjoyed traveling the world for business and pleasure, including trips to Australia, Alaska, Hong Kong, Spain and Italy. Ron had a successful business career that included managerial and executive positions at Dow Chemical, Massey Ferguson, and General Portland, where he served as President. He was the President of Steam Cleaners, Inc. of Fresno and Stockton, California. He pioneered the green movement for waste water recycling in California. Steam Cleaners is now owned and operated by Ron's son, David Johnson, and is celebrating its 50th year in business. Ron and Chris were avid golfers and entertained customers at many famous golf courses in California, including Cypress Point, Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill. Ron played in several Los Angeles Open Pro Ams and was honored to play with both Gary Player and Tom Watson. His five birdies on the back nine on the north course at the Los Angeles Country Club was chronicled by The Los Angeles Times. He and Chris were long time members of Sunnyside Country Club in Fresno, California and lived off the 5th hole of the course. Since 2001, Ron was a volunteer reader for the elementary students of Blanca Gonzalez at the Mecca School in Mecca. This reading assistance program has grown and is today sponsored by the Sacred Heart Church, where Ron and Chris have been active parishioners. Ron gained his American citizenship in 2007 and was finally able in vote for the first time in the U.S. general election in 2008, a source of great pride. Ron loved to take care of his yards and gardens and his countless varieties of colored roses were something to behold. One of his morning routines was to take freshly cut roses into Chris along with a cup of coffee before he read the local paper and his Wall Street Journal. Ron was up on current events and was fond of asking his children and grandchildren what they knew or thought about the latest goings-on. Ron was passionate about fishing and the 34-inch trout he caught at Great Bear Lake in Alaska was one of many trophy fish he landed. He was not a man to go hungry - he was very fond of Chris' meals and her homemade soups and other offerings. Ron could often be found sitting in a well-positioned chair in the shade taking in a vista of the mountains or beach or a bird's nest. He was a well-dressed and well-mannered man who was a tender and devoted husband to the very end of his life. A toast at the 150th anniversary of the family farm expressed many of Ron's sentiments on life: "I am happy to share this place with my family because the things we value as a family have been reaped from this farm. The values of faith, family, hard work and kindness have always been practiced and learned here. Shared by my parents, learned from their parents and passed down to my children to pass down to their children, the lessons of this farm and this family will continue for another 150 years." A memorial mass will be presided over by Father Lincoln and held at 11:00 am on Friday, July 6, 2012 at Sacred Heart Church, 43775 Deep Canyon Road, 92260 with a reception to celebrate his life starting at 12:30 pm at Palm Desert Sun City, Mountain Vista Golf Club, Ventana Room, 38180 Del Webb Blvd. Ron and Chris have been residents of Sun City since 2001. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that any memorial donations be made to Sacred Heart Church, address above, to support the reading assistance program at the Mecca School.

To view and sign this guestbook, please visit mydesert.com/obituaries.

Published in The Desert Sun from June 21 to June 23, 2012

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