Colin Lee Johnson

Colin “Lee” Johnson of Clifton, Virginia passed away Tuesday, May 28, 2019 at the age of 74. He was a rare DC-native who was born in Washington on December 28, 1944 to Elmo and Evelyn Johnson and was raised in Washington, D.C. and Arlington, Virginia. He graduated from Washington-Lee High School. After graduation, Lee attended the University of California, Berkeley where he served in the Navy ROTC and was the coxswain and junior manager for the highly-competitive men’s crew team. He graduated from George Washington University in 1969 with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and served in the US Navy Reserve from 1965 to 1969. Lee continued serving his country as a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer from 1970 to 1997. During his 27-year CIA career, he served as a photogrammetrist and systems engineer at the CIA’s National Photographic Interpretation Center (NPIC) working with an extraordinary team to provide critical intelligence for national security. Lee retired from the CIA in September 1997 to be a stay-at-home dad for his children.

Lee had many passions over his life, but his biggest love, by far, was for his family. Lee married Mary Haug in 1988 and they made their home in Springfield, VA and moved to Clifton, VA in 1997. Together, they joined St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church where Lee served in a variety of ministries. Their son, Timothy, was born in 1990 and their daughter, Karen, in 1992. Lee was an enthusiastic volunteer in the kids’ activities as he supported school functions, joined Tim in Cub Scout and Boy Scout events, assisted as a coach on Karen’s softball teams, and spent countless hours driving both Tim and Karen to school, church, and extracurricular activities - all the while providing unwavering support to his wife Mary and her career.

Lee had a variety of hobbies and interests that evolved over the years, including stamp collecting, radio-controlled gliders, model trains, researching and documenting the genealogy of the Haug and Johnson families and playing softball with the NPIC and Northern Virginia Senior Softball leagues. More recently, his hobbies included gardening, making his award-winning pickles and traveling. Lee’s special passion, however, was for World War II Fletcher Class Destroyers and he enjoyed conducting meticulous research on the ships’ dazzle camouflage paint schemes. Lee published a book on this topic and developed and maintained a website to catalog and share his research (www.usndazzle.com).

Lee died less than six weeks after being diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease called Paraneoplastic Pemphigus. He will be deeply missed by his beloved wife of 31 years, Mary Johnson, and their loving children Timothy Johnson and Karen (Kyle) Craig, as well as a host of friends and extended family members.

Visitation with the family will be held on Friday, June 7, from 4:00 to 8:00 pm at Demaine Funeral Home, 5308 Backlick Rd, Springfield, VA. The funeral service will be held at St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church, 6320 Hanover Ave, Springfield, VA on Saturday, June 8 at 10:00 am. Burial will immediately follow the funeral service in the St. Christopher’s Memorial Garden.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Christopher’s Memorial Fund (6320 Hanover Avenue, Springfield, VA 22150) or to the International Pemphigus and Pemphigoid Foundation (1331 Garden Highway, #100; Sacramento, CA 95833 or https://fundraise.pemphigus.org/give/229939/#!/donation/checkout). Please make a note that your donation is in memory of Lee Johnson.