Dr. Robert Sturgeon Johnson MD

Robert S. Johnson, M.D. Robert Sturgeon Johnson, M.D., 89, passed away peacefully on January 14, 2017, in Chico, California. He was surrounded by loving family in the very hospital where he had worked as a general surgeon for many years. Bob was born June 5, 1927, at U.C. San Francisco, the third child of Nellie (née Cowan) and Hilding R. Johnson. He grew up in Sacramento, where he fondly remembered attending YMCA camp in the summers and taking the streetcar to the Y at 5th and J St. There he learned to swim, played basketball, ran on an indoor track, and lifted weights. At McClatchy High School, he was the Student Body President and played football, basketball, and golf. His studies at U.C. Berkeley were interrupted by a year of service in the Navy, but he graduated in 1949 and went on to medical school at U.C. San Francisco (1949–53) and a surgery residency at Santa Clara County Hospital (1953–58). In 1949 he married Barbara Child, and while in the Bay Area they welcomed son Eric and daughter Megan. Very soon after moving to Chico in 1958, the family grew with the birth of daughter Julia. Bob’s medical practice in Chico spanned nearly five decades and included general surgery, working at the CSU Student Health Services, being team physician for the ski and football teams, and, in 1967–68, holding the position of Chief of Medical Staff at Enloe Hospital. He was a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a long-standing member of the Butte-Glenn Medical Society. Bob was dedicated to his work and his patients, and he was exacting in the operating room (as the nurses would surely attest). Although his profession took priority, Bob also had a number of other deep interests and hobbies. Sports were important to him all his life, whether playing them himself, watching them on TV, or attending his children’s games. When asked recently what his favorite sport had been, he said it was golf -- for the long-standing friendships, the beautiful views, and the chance to travel to interesting places. He putted greens in Scotland, Ireland, the East Coast, Hawaii, Vancouver, and throughout California. He was also an outdoorsman who took his family backpacking in the summer and skiing in the winter, and he was an ecologist and conservationist before it was popular to be so. He could name wildflowers and trees throughout the Sierra Nevada, and he was an avid gardener at home. Some of his favorite mountain retreats were Yosemite (where he had worked as a young man, at Camp Curry), the “DERM” cabin near Echo Summit, and Lake Almanor. Bob remarried in 1972 to Sharon Fletcher Brandenburger, and together they enjoyed traveling, especially to Sweden (where he kept in touch with cousins) and elsewhere in the far north, such as Greenland, New Foundland, Hudson Bay, Svalbard, the Faroe Islands, the Shetland Islands, Iceland, Norway, Finland, and Russia. On the other side of the globe, Bob and Sharon explored Australia, New Zealand, Saipan, the Cook Islands, Tahiti, and the Marquesas Islands. Hawaii was a favorite destination as well. Perhaps this wanderlust was sparked by his boyhood interest in stamp-collecting, which continued throughout his life. And he always seemed to have a book about remote places or historical voyages by his bedside. No description of Bob would be complete without mention of his wry, even sly, sense of humor. He was a man of relatively few words, but those words were often just the ones to make us laugh. His deadpan delivery could be disconcerting, but the twinkle in his eye gave him away. He exerted a profound influence on his children and grandchildren, from a love of sports and the outdoors to singing (especially folksongs and musicals) and anything chocolate. He was proud of his family and always interested in our activities. He encouraged us to take the scenic route. Bob was predeceased by his siblings: brothers Roy, Ern, and Dave, and sister Marge. He is survived by his wife, Sharon; children, Eric Johnson, Megan Johnson, M.D., and Julia Zafferano; son-in-law, Marc Zafferano; grandchildren, Mattias and Tarn Johnson, Natalia Zafferano, and Galen and Bryce Casey; and many loving nieces and nephews. A celebration of his life will be held at the Enloe Conference Center, 1528 Esplanade in Chico, on Saturday, Feb. 4, at 2:00. Refreshments (and, of course, chocolate) will follow. Funeral arrangements are being handled by the Neptune Society. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Enloe Cardiovascular Care Center, the Sierra Club, or any charity of your choice.