Dana Lovejoy Johnson

It is with love and sadness we announce the passing of Dana Lovejoy Johnson in Bellingham, Washington, August 27, 2025, after a brief illness. Dana was known for his lively storytelling, visionary ideas, and ability to stay connected to friends. Born in San Diego, California, to Ben & Cecil Johnson, he moved around the country until his family settled in Glendora, California, where he attended Citrus Union High School. After graduating from Stanford, he worked as a CPA in San Francisco, Honolulu, and the Bay Area where he met Christine Treiberg. In 1956, they married in Ventura, and remained married for 65 years until she passed in 2021.

Dana and his CPA partners built the firm Hutchison, Horn, Johnson & Hey, which included offices in Santa Paula, Oxnard, Ventura, and Camarillo. Later, they sold their practice to Haskins & Sells and consolidated offices in Oxnard. Eventually, he left there to embark on an entrepreneurial path. He consulted for local startups and established companies, providing them with in-depth financial projections via computer programs he authored. A man of big ideas, he continuously contemplated ways in which a technology could serve the greatest good. With the world's current water shortages, his most recent projects dealt with water purification. He continued to focus on and work on these ideas up until his last weeks.

Alongside his entrepreneurial endeavors, Dana was involved in education. He spent ten years commuting to San Francisco where he was the CFO at the Academy of Art College and then at the School of Hotel & Restaurant Management which he cofounded. For almost 25 years, he served on the board of Child Development Resources of Ventura County.

One of Dana's enduring qualities was his ability to stay connected with people. He kept in touch with many of his Stanford friends for the duration of their lives. During his time in Honolulu, he lived in a house on Poni Moi Street with several roommates, creating a hub for other mainland friends. This group, known as the Poni Street Boys Club, would remain close for their lifetimes. For years, they gathered annually, along with their families, for a weekend of riotous fun. Dana was the last surviving member of the group.

The past two years of his life, Dana spent in Bellingham, Washington, after rekindling a relationship with Beverly Jacobs, a friend from his Honolulu days. Beverly's companionship, and the loving care her family gave Dana, sweetened his last days. For this, his Ventura family is infinitely grateful.

Preceding Dana in death were his parents, his brothers, Elliot and Blake Johnson, and his wife Christine. He is survived by his sister, Jeanne Johnson; his children Lynn Johnson, CeCe Johnson, Doug Johnson, and son-in-law, Chris Salfen; his grandchildren, Claire Grasty and husband Jimmy Grasty, Madeleine Johson-Winegar, and Dorien Johnson; his two great grandchildren Lilian and Maximilian; and numerous Johnson and Treiberg nieces and nephews, and their children. Dana loved big family gatherings, and he loved a good story, especially if it concluded with a laugh. He was a voracious reader and an avid bridge player, which he played well into his 90s.

Dana is greatly missed, but surely the whole Poni Street gang awaited him on the other side, gin and tonics in hand, and Trini Lopez on the hi-fi. Aloha.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating in memoriam of Dana Johnson to Child Development Resources of Ventura County, Inc.

221 E. Ventura Blvd., Oxnard, CA, 93036, Attn: Finance Dept. CFO.

Celebration of life to be held in Ventura October 18. Please email lynncjohnsonassociates@gmail.com for details.