Cyrus A. Johnson

Cyrus "Cy" Addison Johnson passed away in Palm Desert after a brief illness. Cy was born in Crawford, Nebraska and raised in Ainsworth, Nebraska. He attended Doane College in Crete, Nebraska and transferred to University of Nebraska, Lincoln, where he received degrees in law and business administration. While attending University of Nebraska, Cy was president of his fraternity, SAE, and the University Inter-Fraternity Council. Following graduation in 1953 he served in the U.S. Navy as the Disbursing Officer and Legal Officer of the U.S. Fleet Sonar School and associated commands in San Diego. While stationed in San Diego, he met and married Charlotte Hardy originally from Woodland, California in 1957. After military service he was a trial attorney with the U.S. Treasury Department and worked in the IRS' regional offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco. In 1961, while working in Los Angeles, he obtained a LLM in taxation from the Gould School of Law, University of Southern California. Later that year, Cy and Char moved to Sacramento where he was first an associate and then a partner in the law firm of Diepenbrock, Wulff, Plant & Hannegan; then later a partner in the Sacramento law firm of Riegels Campos & Kenyon, and "of counsel" in the law firm of Goldsberry, Freeman & Guzman. After 50 years of practice in Sacramento, he retired October 1, 2011. Cy was active in the Sacramento and California community and was formerly a certified specialist in taxation law for the California State Bar; an Adjunct Professor of Law, McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific; vice-chairman of the California State Bar Tax Committee; president of the Sacramento Estate Planning Council, and a member of the Sutter Club of Sacramento. He was an Eddie Mulligan and Paul Harris fellow in the Rotary Club of Sacramento. Aside from living in Sacramento, Cy and Char enjoyed winters in Palm Desert and summers in Lake Tahoe where they would entertain family and friends. His dry sense of humor was a perfect match to Char's love of laughter. Cy was an avid outdoorsman and exceptional hunter and fisherman who treasured time hunting at the H Pond in the Yolo bypass or via horseback in Canada. He was devoted to his family and liked nothing better than hiking with his grandsons at Sugar Pine Point in Tahoe, taking them on "fish hikes" in Blackwood Canyon, Tahoe, and the Sacramento River and duck hunting with them at the H Pond. He is survived by daughters Carole (Stephen) Gray & Julie Landis. His wife, Char and daughter Beth, predeceased him. He is also survived by five grandsons, Matt Landis, Billy Landis, Jimmy Landis, Joseph Gray and Paul Gray. Please send remembrances to the Rotary Club of Sacramento Foundation, 1451 River Park Drive, #120 South, Sacramento, CA 95815 or a charity of your choice. Cy's life will be celebrated February 9, 2020, 11:00 am at the Sutter Club.