Gregory Louis Johnston

As with everything else he did, Greg fought his cancer quietly, with his family by his side, right up until the end. We are only happy that he is finally at peace.

While we are deeply saddened by his loss, we are also deeply grateful to Greg for all of the fond memories he has left us to treasure in his place that will keep him always in our hearts and minds.

As loving partners, he and Georgiann enjoyed a lot of fun, especially at the holidays, when they would transform their home into a beautiful, Victorian Christmas wonderland. They also shared many quietly romantic moments, like the time they were at a wedding and Greg surprised Georgie when he stood and snapped his fingers and arms together near his head, letting her know he was ready to dance, reminiscent of Gomez Addams. She kidded him about it ever since and laughed when he adamantly denied his actions.

Steve and Chris treasure their time with Greg as the best possible big brother young guys could have. Both were years ahead of their friends in their musical tastes, because Greg turned them on to the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Doors, Jimi Hendrix, the Who and a diverse galaxy of rock and roll stars when they were still kids in elementary school. Steve credits his big brother with igniting that love of music that led him to become a professional musician and member of a rock band in LA for 15 years. Greg later led them into their appreciation of classical music that their beloved mom and dad, Mary Louise and Charles Edwin Johnston, had passed down to him.

Chris will never forget buying a pair of engineer boots so that he could ride with Greg on one of his other passions, a 1969 Harley-Davidson 900cc Sportster, which then boasted the fastest speed-to-weight ratio of the last of the pure Harley’s. And Greg never missed an opportunity to demonstrate that feature to his little brother, like the time he drove Chris around the traffic circle on SOM Center Road at Gates Mills Blvd., just north of Gilmour Academy, at about a 45-degree angle.

For his daughter Kati, well, she says, “Growing up, I thought my Dad was the coolest. My fondest memories together were my Halloween scavenger hunts, carving pumpkins, trick or treating, visiting haunted houses, and watching scary movies.”

There was also the time that Greg, a consummate prankster, took Kati trick or treating and made her friends believe he had a wooden leg. “He limped the whole time,” she fondly recalls.

Greg loved all of the holidays, Christmas the most, but Halloween was a close second. He and his brothers all had fun trick or treating as kids growing up in Lyndhurst. But once they were too old, they gladly took on the task of teaming up to frighten neighborhood kids as much as possible. With Greg at the lead, they would design elaborate systems to startle kids by dropping ghosts from the trees as they approached the house, for example. Scaring neighborhood kids on Halloween became an important Johnston tradition that continues to this day.

Kati experienced that tradition once when she had a Halloween sleep over, and she and her dad planned a stunt to startle everyone. “While we were watching a horror movie, Dad busted in the basement window and screamed ‘Go Browns!’ Kati remembers. “All the girls huddled in the corner, screaming, and I just remember hearing my Dad's maniacal laughter. I was laughing so hard.”

Greg always went out of his way to share the arts and cultural activities that he so loved like taking Kati to the Cleveland Museum of Art or to picnics on the beach. As a young child, she spent hours with her dad while he read books to her, often changing his voice to match the character speaking in the story. When she made believe, he was usually the knight in the adventure, and she was the princess.

As she got older, Greg actively supported her various extracurricular activities, whether it was gymnastics, softball, or an equestrian tournament. “He never missed a one,” she says.

It’s not possible to describe Greg without mentioning his exceptional artistic aptitudes. Early on he displayed his talents by meticulously assembling perfect models of airplanes, tanks, sports cars, famous movie monsters like Frankenstein or Dracula or whatever model kits he could get his hands on. He spent hours in his room listening to his rock albums while gluing together the tiniest, most detailed pieces. He also painstakingly painted his room with psychedelic sky and stars that he then dramatically lit with a black light.

He went on to create many exquisitely detailed drawings and paintings. While attending the Cleveland Institute of Art for a couple of years, he chiseled a spectacular sculpture of a bird taking flight that, unfortunately, was one of only two pieces stolen from the CIA student art show that year, which indicates how magnificent the piece was.

Greg worked at several places throughout his life, until he retired from his job as an assembler at Hunter Manufacturing Co. (HDT Global) a few years ago. He enjoyed spending as much time as he could with Georgie, his beloved daughter Kati and her significant other Ron, his beloved granddaughter Kailey, who has followed in his footsteps as an artist and CIA student, and his Johnston and Griesmar family whenever they got together.

The last word on Greg? Kati sums it up best: “He was certainly a man of few words. My favorite thing about him was his twisted sense of humor. He could always make me laugh.”

We love Greg dearly. We wish him God speed. May he rest in peace for eternity.

The family will receive friends at the DiCICCO & SONS FUNERAL HOME, 5975 MAYFIELD RD. MAYFIELD HTS. OH 44124, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24 at 10:00 AM. Interment All Souls Cemetery. Online guest book and condolences.