Michael Dean Johnson
Dec. 16, 1954-Sept. 24, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008 10:41 AM PDT
Payette
Michael Dean Johnson, age 53, Payette, died peacefully on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2008 at his home. Memorial Services will be held at 3:00 p.m., Friday Oct. 3, 2008, at Fir Lawn Mortuary and Memorial Park, 1070 West Main Street, Hillsboro, Ore. Arrangements in Payette are under direction of Shaffer-Jensen Memory Chapel, Payette.
Michael was the eldest son of James R. and Leora Johnson. Mike was born Dec. 16, 1954, in Mary Secor Hospital in Emmett, Idaho. At the age of two, he moved with his parents from Wilder, Idaho to Payette, where he graduated from high school in 1973.
He graduated from Pacific University, Forest Grove, OR, in 1977 with a degree in mathematics. After graduation, he married Sandra Haynes of Cornelius, Ore., and went to work for Pendleton Woolen Mills at their Portland headquarters. Their daughter Valerie was born in 1982. After the sudden and tragic death of Sandra in a traffic accident, he attended classes at Oregon Graduate Center studying Computer Science.
He set up his own business soon after, which became Northwest 9000, Inc. and married Mary Chambers of Hillsboro in 1988.
In 1999, Northwest 9000, Inc. dissolved and became Bitterroot Quality Services. He moved back to Payette in 2003 and began writing full time.
He was prolific poet, was instrumental in getting his grandfather’s historic novel “The Bitterroot Trail” republished in e-book form, and at the time of his death was compiling an anthology of short stories.
At various times in his life, he was active in many fraternal, civic, and ethical groups, including the Masonic Lodge, Scottish Rite, Eastern Star, I.O.R.G., PETA, and The Treasure Valley Radio Association. He was passionately interested in the welfare of the area, the state, and the nation, and was anxiously awaiting the chance to cast his ballot in the upcoming election. He loved animals all his life. His pal at home was the Johnson Family Dog Brownie.
He is survived by his daughter, Valerie C. Catullo and her husband Christopher, his granddaughter, Leora Teresa Catullo, all of Herdon, VA; his brother, Richard D. Johnson of Hillsboro, OR; his sister, Ellen Louise Waugh of Aloha, OR; Marie Chambers of Hillsboro, OR; and his parents, James R. and Leora Johnson of Payette, ID.
