Roger L. Johnson

Raised in Fairmont, Minnesota, Roger learned to shuck corn on the cob as fast as any human being. After his small town youth, he began college at the University of Iowa. A year later, after taking a test given by his local congressman “just to see how I would do”, placed at the top and received an appointment to West Point. After graduating from West Point with a degree in Military Engineering in 1945, Roger joined the Army Air Corps as a pilot and traveled with the Air Corps across the globe. He resigned his military commission 1950 as a decorated first lieutenant.

While stationed near Sacramento, California, Roger met his future wife Jackie for their first date under the clock at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. They were married at San Francisco’s Fairmont Hotel in 1952.

The young couple’s family grew as they moved across the country, stopping in each state just long enough to have a child. The last stop on the Johnson tour was Southern California where Roger and the family settled in 1956.

The job that brought Roger to Southern California – General Dynamics – became a career that spanned more than 30 years and led him on travels to many exotic world locales. Roger also earned a Masters Degree in International Business.

Active as a volunteer in Glendora, Roger was awarded ‘Glendora Senior Citizen of the Year’ honors for his work at the La Fetra Senior Center as a stroke victim support volunteer, AARP Safe Driving instructor, and other work across the years. He enjoyed mixing it up on the lacrosse field and was an incredible basketball coach for his son’s teams.

Roger was known for his intellect, charm, unique sense of humor, his love of language and words, impulse sports car purchases and an obsession with bagpipes.

He was loved deeply and he will be missed tremendously.