Neal Johnston

Neal Timothy Johnston was born in Oakland, California, on March 11, 1973 and grew up in the Bay Area. He died peacefully at home in Trumansburg, New York, on May 17, 2025 after six years of courageous treatment for a rare and aggressive metastatic cancer.

Neal spent his early years at the Peninsula School in Menlo Park and cherished time at his grandparents’ peach farm in the California Central Valley. He attended Menlo-Atherton High School briefly before completing high school in Montana. After high school, he explored several post-secondary paths, including a summer canning salmon in Alaska, before realizing college wasn’t the right fit for him. True to his nature, he chose a more hands-on route and trained as an electrician - a trade he took pride in and truly loved.

In 1998, Neal moved from San Francisco to Portland, Oregon. There, after a brief stint as a repo man (which gave him a lifetime supply of wild stories), he found steady work as a union electrician. In Portland he met Megan, his first wife. Her family had long-standing ties to Cayuga Lake, so in 2009, they packed up a trailer and relocated to Trumansburg. In 2010, Neal answered a Craigslist ad and took a gamble on a small startup flour milling business, combining his love of DIY engineering and jack-of-all trades creativity. This business partnership led to a 15-year career at Farmer Ground Flour. There he worked with local builders, farmers, and craftsmen, and helped to build a thriving company that currently employs ten people and fuels dozens of bakeries across the state. In 2012, Neal and Megan welcomed their daughter Madeline. After wearing many different hats throughout his life, none fit him better than fatherhood, and the joy he experienced watching Madeline grow up was evident to all who knew them and saw them together.

In 2016, in spite of hiswell known dislike of cell phones and social media, he connected online with Kaki, who he’d met before through the local recovery community. After a year of hiking in the local parks, spending time on the lake, and enjoying many cups of Gimme! Coffee and ice cream cones, they got engaged and then married in 2018. Kaki and Neal welcome two sons, Ira in 2022 and Louis in 2024. The boys’ births in the midst of cancer treatments brought light, laughter, and hope. Caring for Madeline, Ira, and baby Louie kept the family grateful and grounded during the most challenging moments. Their farm in Trumansburg was full of life: kids, donkeys, chickens, roosters, guinea hens, dogs, cats, the pond, peach trees, endless projects with his father Richard, and an abundance of love.

Neal was a man of dry wit and deep heart. A dedicated father and a devoted husband, he was never one to stand on ceremony. He loved Monty Python and heavy metal, hated inefficiency, and found joy in the simplest things: a well-done wiring job, cheering Madeline on from the sidelines, a quiet moment at the pond, a good joke, a polar plunge, and the everyday chaos of family life.

Everyone who knew Neal will miss so much about him—his quick wit, love of wordplay and puns, wild tattoos, fierce devotion to his children, disdain for pretension, kindness towards everyone everywhere, mechanical know-how, love of the outdoors, thrill-seeking nature, generous spirit, and of course, his epic collection of wild T-shirts, which Madeline has already started to wear. His spirit will live on in the stories people will tell about him, in the “Nealisms” his family will continue to use, and in his amazing children, who are all very different, but who all have his bright blue eyes, playful spirit, and interest in how things work.

With his children in mind, Neal did absolutely everything he could to extend his life and live as fully as he could. Neal’s last treatment was only nine days before his passing. During his three days of hospice care at home, Neal remained unmistakably himself—sharp, funny, and independent. He refused a hospital bed. He walked on his own. He corrected the hospice counselor who called him “sir”—“Not ‘sir’. Name is Neal. But any 4-letter word will do.” And his final words to the nurse who asked where he was going as he tried to stand up to head to bed were, “To hell in a handbasket.” He kept everyone in his home laughing until the end.

Neal leaves behind his wife Kaki, children Madeline, Ira, and Louis, his parents Richard and Marlene, and a wide circle of family, friends, lost boys, and co-conspirators.

A celebration of Neal’s life will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Neal to one of the two organizations below.

The Johnston Family Uveal Melanoma Research MRIE Fund at Jefferson’s Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer CenterOnline: https://giving.jefferson.edu/giving-guide/give/in-memory-of-neal-johnston.html checks:

Payable to Jefferson with “in memory of Neal Johnston” in the memo line, and mail to:

Jefferson Office of Institutional Advancement

Department 825434PO Box 71331Philadelphia, PA 19176-1331

Ithaca Community RecoveryOnline:

www.ithacacommunityrecovery.org/donateChecks:

 Payable to Ithaca Community Recovery with “in memory of Neal Johnston” in the memo line, and mail to:

Ithaca Community Recovery, Inc.

518 W. Seneca St.Ithaca, NY 14850