Max Gordon Johnson

Max Gordon Johnson of Bellevue, Washington passed away on Sunday, November 9, 2025 at the age of 88. The son of a farmer and schoolteacher, Max was born on June 19, 1937 in Nampa, Idaho. His formative years on the farm instilled in Max the values of hard work and getting an early start to the day. In 1955, he graduated from Nampa High School, where he excelled in the classroom and on the basketball court and baseball field.

Max attended Whitman College on a scholarship, working his way through college as a fry cook in the SUB and spending summers in Walla Walla as a cannery worker and counselor at Stubblefield Home for abused boys. An economics and business administration major, he earned Phi Beta Kappa honors and served as president of his senior class.

Athletics were a big part of Max’s college experience. An all-conference performer in basketball and baseball, he received 10 athletic letters – four each in basketball (forward) and baseball (centerfield, shortstop): one in track (high jump and broad jump); and one in football (wide receiver and defensive back). Known as “Red Dog,” a reference to his hair color, Max capped his college career by winning the 1959 Borleske Trophy, which honors the top male athlete of the year.

Just days after his Whitman graduation, he married his college sweetheart, Margaret (Maggie) Iversen. Soon after their wedding, they moved to Southern California where Max attended Claremont Graduate University. He earned his master’s degree in business economics in 1961 and then embarked on a 40-year career in telecommunications with Pacific Northwest Bell, AT&T, U S WEST and Product Development Corporation (PDC). He and Maggie raised two daughters, living primarily in Bellevue, Washington, with career stops in New York City; Portland, Oregon; and Denver, Colorado.

Max maintained a long volunteer association with Whitman, serving on the Board of Overseers from 1971 to 1986 (three years as chair), on the Board of Trustees from 1986 through 1995, and as a Trustee Emeritus. The college recognized his contributions with the 2011 Gordon Scribner Award for Distinguished Service.

In 2005, Max was inducted into the Whitman College Athletic Hall of Fame with the distinction of being the college’s last four-sport letterman. Sixty-six years after graduating, he continues to hold school records for career rebounding and single season rebounds. Max’s love of sports endured throughout his life, whether playing tennis and golf with good friends, watching the Huskies, Seahawks and Mariners, or cheering on his granddaughter on the track and cross-country course. An avid golfer, he enjoyed playing courses in Scotland, Ireland and across the U.S.

In retirement, Max and Maggie traveled between homes in Scottsdale, Arizona and Yarrow Point, Washington. They delighted in welcoming and entertaining friends and family members in their homes over their 65-year marriage.

Max is preceded in death by his wife Maggie, his parents Fred E. Johnson and Idella Marie Jaques Johnson, sister Wilma Lenz, and brothers Warren Johnson and Wendell Johnson. He is survived by daughters Laurie Johnson (John Riley), Lisa Johnson Moore (David Moore), granddaughter Katherine (Katie) Riley, and sister Karin White.

A private service is being planned.

In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be directed to the Max Johnson Varsity Men’s Basketball Endowment at Whitman College.