Thomas Scott Johnston

1945 - 2024

Thomas Scott Johnston

T. Scott Johnston of Toledo, Ohio died on May 17, 2024. Born October 13, 1945, Scott was a 1963 graduate of DeVilbiss High School; a 1967 graduate of DePauw University where he was a captain of the varsity swim team; and a 1970 graduate of the University of Toledo law school where he was class valedictorian.

After law school he worked for the Department of Justice in Washington D. C. He defended the United States and its executive agencies in cases filed in federal courts, including cases related to the Viet Nam war. He was involved in the "second battle of Wounded Knee" where, in 1973, there was an armed conflict between Native Americans and federal agents at Wounded Knee, South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

He enjoyed his free time while at Justice. He was quarterback of the Civil Division's seven-man football team. Games were played on weekends in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial. He and friends rented a house each summer at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. In 1972 he took a leave of absence from work to backpack four months alone thru Western Europe and parts of Northern Africa. That was the first of many hiking vacations he took, principally in the U.S. and British Isles where he climbed the highest mountains in England, Scotland, and Wales. One year he walked across the width of England from the Irish Sea to the North Sea.

After Washington D.C., he returned to Toledo to work with the law firm of Cooper & Walinski. He was associated with that firm until his retirement. He was, for a time, President of the firm. While employed, he handled a variety of cases in state and federal courts and supervised the defense of cases in nearly all states. He also worked at various times as special counsel to the Ohio Attorney General, adjunct faculty member of the University of Toledo College of Law, hearing officer in special education cases, arbitrator in commercial arbitrations for the American Arbitration Association, and mediator for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.

Scott took a leave of absence from Cooper & Walinski in 1976 to study at Oxford University in England.

He married Charlene Bushong in 1978. They had three children, Molly, Abbey and Peter. He loved being a dad, hanging out with the family, and coaching or watching his kids' sports teams. He always enjoyed family vacations and summer weekends at the family cottage in Michigan. Later in life, when grandkids came along, he loved being with his grandkids. In his later years, he enjoyed traveling and attending University of Toledo women's basketball games with his girlfriend, Donna Dick.

He enjoyed squash, golf, hiking, biking, tennis, and fly- fishing. Scott liked the poetry of William Wordsworth and spent time visiting places Wordsworth wrote about.

He served his community as president of the American Lung Association (NWO), chairman of the Sierra Club of Western Lake Erie, board member of the American Civil Liberties Union (NWO), and board member of the Ottawa Hills School Board. He was a member of the Toledo, Ohio, and American Bar Associations and Life Fellow of the Ohio Bar Foundation. He also was a Life Member of both the Sierra Club and Trout Unlimited.

Scott will be remembered as one who could be calm when others around him were not, and as a person who had a mischievous sense of humor and a joyful spirit. He is survived by his children, Molly Beakas, Abbey Johnston (Omid), Peter Johnston (Abby); grandchildren, Luke, Ben, Troy, Nora, Max, Harper, Cole and Hadley, his girlfriend, Donna Dick; former spouse, Char Johnston; siblings, Jim Johnston, Libbey McKnight and Dave Johnston; as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Thomas Johnston and Jean Johnston; as well as his niece Alexa Johnston.

There is no visitation. Services are private. Donations to the The Alexa Fund ( Greater Toledo Community Foundation, 300 Madison Ave. Suite 1300 Toledo, OH 43604 https://toledocf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=1047 ) are appreciated.