Donna June Johnson was born on June 14th, 1940 in Thayer, Kansas, and she died on May 26th, 2021 in Boulder, Colorado. As a little girl, Donna was told that all of the flags that were flying on June 14th were to celebrate her birthday.
Donna spent the first third of her childhood in Kansas, the second third in California, and the final third in Connecticut. She attended Hartford Public High School, and often shared that it was the second oldest public high school in America, after Boston Latin Grammar School. She made dear friends there that she kept in contact with for the rest of her life.
Donna attended Kalamazoo College for two years. There she met her beloved husband, John Thomas Donovan. They married in 1960 and finished their university education at Western Michigan University.
Because John entered the Air Force, they traveled a lot after graduation. While stationed in Spokane, Donna completed a Masters Program in Art at Eastern Washington State College. Their final duty station was at Malmstrom Air Force Base near Great Falls, Montana.
It was there that they discovered that John had a rare form of cancer, and he was medically discharged from the Air Force. They moved to Boulder, Colorado because they had vacationed there and loved the area. They purchased land, and began excavation for their new home.
However, after John was in remission and Donna had become pregnant, John’s cancer returned with a vengeance. When their son Erik was 5-months old, John died on Dec 31st, 1969.
Donna was determined to honor their desire to build this house, and so she took on the role of general contractor, and learned, primarily through the building permit, how to move forward to finish that house. But it was truly Erik who was her main reason for moving forward.
About three years later, Donna wanted to build another house in the same mountain subdivision, but one that was atop the ridgeline. She now had the confidence and giftedness to not only be the general contractor, but also the architect. That house was completed in 1972.
That summer she attended a party at which she met this fellow who was just starting graduate school at the University of Colorado. She invited him to a party at her house with a bunch of her musician friends.
Not being musically inclined nor an extrovert, he chose to hang out with 3-year-old Erik. That turned out to be quite compelling for Donna, who had begun dating again but broke off relationships where she felt the prospect was not good father material. She was seeking to fulfill a deathbed promise to John that she would marry someone who would be a good daddy to Erik. She married Greg Johnson after Christmas in 1972, and he immediately adopted Erik as his son.
Because Greg had graduated from West Point, he was in the service at this time, getting a Masters in Physics so that he could return to West Point as an instructor for his next duty station. So Donna planned to sell her house and buy land in this same beautiful mountain subdivision, Pinebrook Hills, believing that when Greg’s time of service ended, they would return to Boulder.
Donna and Greg had a very significant three years at West Point from 1974-1977. The two most significant events there were first, their coming to faith in Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior in 1975, and second, the birth of their daughter Ruth Allyson in 1976.
In 1977 they were assigned duty in a location near Frankfurt, Germany. It was there in 1979 that their daughter, Julie Christine, was born. Donna and Greg came to a crossroads in 1980, as they prepared to leave Germany for another duty station.
As relatively new Christians, they wanted to do what the Lord wanted for their lives, and they struggled as to whether to stay in the service or get out. In a very dramatic manner, God made it clear to them that Greg was to resign his commission and they were to return to Boulder, Colorado with their three children, 10, 4, and 1.
And so for the third time, Donna became the architect and general contractor in the building of their new home on one of their two adjacent lots in Pinebrook Hills. They both put much sweat equity into this home, but Greg would spend Fridays in a business suit looking for work. After three months he found a job as a thermal engineer with Ball Aerospace, the company responsible for the instruments that currently reside in the Hubble Space Telescope. He remained with the company for 32 years.
Donna thrived both as a mother and as a professional artist. She worked in oils, watercolors and acrylics. She taught, both in public schools and with individual students. She juried regional art shows. She established a forum for artists to display their work at two local recreation centers. She won awards in art exhibits too numerous to name.
While married to John, she had painted under the name D.J. Donovan. After marrying Greg, she chose to maintain that career connection, becoming known in Boulder as D. J. Donovan-Johnson. When receiving phone calls, she always knew that it was an art contact if they called her “DJ.” In 1992 she was voted the best visual artist in Boulder, according to a survey the local newspaper conducted.
In 1987 she decided she needed a bigger art studio, and so for the fourth time she acted as architect and general contractor to build her final home on the adjacent lot. It was to be the home she would live in for the next 34 years, and where she would take her last earthly breath, looking out at the beautiful flowers her children and grandchildren had potted for her on Mother’s Day.
While both art and family were so very dear to her heart, it was her relationship with her Lord Jesus Christ that Donna treasured above all else. Upon their return to Boulder in 1980, Donna and Greg attended First Presbyterian Church in Boulder and began teaching fourth grade Sunday School, which they did for 10 years. She also joined women’s Bible Studies and sought to grow in her walk with God.
Hospitality was one of Donna’s precious gifts from God, and she welcomed all who came into her home with genuine joy and blessing. Some found a safe haven for the evening, others for many months.
In 1998, after the last child had headed off to college, Greg and Donna came to Calvary Bible Church, where their souls were fed for the rest of Donna’s life. Each Sunday she marveled at how blessed she was to be able to participate in the life of Calvary. She hosted special events, and led several women’s Bible Studies there. She loved the time between services at the Calvary Café and the opportunities to share life with her fellow sojourners in Christ.
She also loved to travel, which was the very best part of their time in Germany for her. But in her later years, her favorite travel destination was Mexico, where she and Greg would take their family each year. This began in 2005 when Ruthie married Jonah Werner, and continued almost every year thereafter, including with Robert Golter when he married Julie in 2009. Erik married his beloved Shara Sinor in 1993.
And then that tradition continued as grandchildren came along. First Hawk Werner in 2009, then Gracelyn Golter in 2011, Piper Werner later in that same year, and then Hartley Golter in 2013, Wylder Golter in 2014, and Gunner Golter in 2017. One of Donna’s favorite expressions was, “I was born to be a Grandma!”
She manifested that love by baking each grandchild whatever cake their heart desired for their birthday. Baking cookies at Grandma’s house was a special memory for virtually all of them. Along with Greg, she took them on Grandchild Adventures each week before they reached school age, and afterward in the summertime and over holidays. She was so thankful that they lived locally so that she could fully participate in their lives.
Donna developed an autoimmune disease called Sjogren’s Syndrome in 2001, but was able to limit its hold over her lungs, even after doctors at National Jewish Hospital in Denver, the foremost pulmonology center in the nation, told her that she didn’t have long to live. She told them, “Don’t count me out! I know the Great Physician!”
The disease remained at bay until 2019, when it rose up again. With Covid restrictions coming in the spring of 2020, it was not obvious to many that she had been further weakened. When she contracted a simple lung infection in May of 2021, it became too much for her weakened system, and she succumbed.
However, throughout it all, she never complained. She had a great smile for everyone, and when asked, she would tell each caring soul, “I’m doing fine.” And it was the truth. Because she had a powerful and unshakeable faith that Jesus Christ had died for her sins and gone before her to secure a place in heaven for her, she was confident that when she took her last breath, she would go immediately to be with her Savior. When asked what she looked forward to most, she would say, “Dancing with Jesus!”
If you desire to make contributions in her name, she would want those gifts directed to an amazing ministry called Wildsons, for she believed that family was the key building block that God had ordained for stable societies and to grow hearts toward Him. She recognized the need to raise up parents to lead those families into being all God wants them to be, and she knew this ministry excelled at that. For more information or to give to this ministry in her name, go to wildsons.com.
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