Otto M. Johnson

Otto M. JOHNSON Otto Martin Johnson, 80, died after a brief illness on December 30, 2010. Born and raised in Ballard, he was the son of Ethel Clarinda Hersom Johnson and Otto Martin Johnson, Sr. He was married for nearly 60 years to his best friend, Mary Pelton Johnson. They met in math class, and their first date was Ballard High School graduation in 1948. They married in Seattle on March 17, 1951, and moved to a little house near Sand Point in Seattle that Otto had bought at age 19 and fixed up for his bride. Otto participated in ROTC at the University of Washington and, after he received his electrical engineering degree in 1952, joined the Air Force. He served during the Korean War first in Texas and then in Washington DC with the NSA, where he contributed to early work in electronic transmitting and receiving signals. After his discharge, he returned to Seattle with Mary and their two oldest children. In 1955, Otto and Mary were among the first to build a home in Olympic Manor on what had been a golf course. He liked to point out that he and Mary had designed and mainly built the house themselves, with the help of their fathers and other extended family members. There they raised their four children: Scott, Teresa, Ross, and Brian. During his lifelong career at Boeing, Otto worked on radar, particularly on AWACS. He was a longtime member and church leader at Crown Hill United Methodist Church, and served as a leader in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts when his boys were young. In 1961, Otto helped form the Blue Chip Investment Club, and remained an active member for nearly fifty years. Travel was a big part of Otto's life, first with family camping trips throughout Washington. After their children grew up, he and Mary made a list of the places they wanted to go: top of the list was hiking the Chilkoot Trail in Alaska; then they went to Europe and hiked in the Alps. Third on their list was the Himalayas; their fall 1979 trek around Annapurna began a long connection with Nepal resulting in many return visits and friendships within the Sherpa and Tibetan communities. More recent travels took them to the Galapagos Islands, the Queen Charlottes, Africa, Denmark, and elsewhere. In 2009, they moved to Ida Culver House Broadview for additional support, where they reconnected with many old friends from the Crown Hill and North Beach area. Otto is survived by his beloved wife Mary and by their four children: Scott Johnson, an attorney in Pennsylvania (Laurie Higgins); Teresa Lawson, an editor in Port Townsend with international clients (Tim Lawson); Ross Johnson, a retired actor in Lake Forest Park (Diane Hostetler); and Brian Johnson, an architect living in Ballard. Otto also leaves four grandchildren: Major Johnson and Kelsey Johnson in Pennsylvania, Nami Johnson Mizuguchi in Nagoya Japan, and Noah Hostetler in Seattle, as well as his sister Ida MacKinnon, brother-in-law Hal Pelton, and much-loved nieces, nephews, and countless friends. A memorial gathering will be held Sunday, January 9, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Ida Culver House Broadview at 125th and Greenwood Avenue North in Seattle. The family suggests donations to the Ballard Food Bank or Medic One in Otto's memory.