Daniel B Johnson

Daniel B. Johnson, age 73, died peacefully surrounded by family in Austin, Texas on March 4, 2022. He was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer in November, so time was fleeting. Dan was born in Seattle on October 16, 1948, his mother's birthday. He moved with his parents and three siblings to Minneapolis where he attended Tuttle School in Southeast Minneapolis before moving to Mankato in 1958. Dan graduated from Mankato High School in 1966 where he received the honor of being Snow King. He graduated from St. Olaf College in 1970 and from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1973. He valued the life of the mind, travel, letter writing, close friends, and the innate gifts we have all been given. It was in college where Dan met Diane Hilliard, Miss Diane, from Louisiana. They were married in 1974. Letters home from Bangkok, during a junior year abroad, on the thin airmail stationary of the time covered every square centimeter of writable space with keen insights and observations of the people and the culture. On to golf. Dan started at young and followed the rules. "How else will you know if you are improving?" During his legal career, Dan practiced in Minneapolis and later in Stillwater, Minnesota. Dan and Diane spent many fine summer days and evenings together at their "Louisiana Purchase" lake side cottage in Wisconsin that they shared so generously over the decades with friends and family. He was preceded in death by his mother Margaret L. Johnson and father Robert I. Johnson. Dan is survived by his wife of 48 years, Diane Hilliard, son Christopher Johnson (wife Beth Johnson), grandsons Peter and Will, sister Deborah Anderson, brothers Mark Johnson (wife Marjorie Johnson) and Scott Johnson (wife Mary Johnson). Special thanks to Donna and Roy Phillips, and those who helped care for Dan in his final days in Austin. Ashes were spread by the family in the Pacific Ocean and at the cottage.