Gary Johnston

Gary Eugene Johnston, 75, of Oro Valley, Arizona passed peacefully on September 27th, 2014 and is at peace with Jesus his Lord. He was born May 4, 1939 at St. Francis Hospital, Concordia, Kansas to the late Twila Maye Johnston and James A. Johnston. He attended Clyde High School where he played football, basketball, baseball and ran track and field and graduated in 1957. He also attended Kansas Wesleyan University. He married Patricia Gill at St. Paul’s Lutheran church in Palmer, Kansas, November 23, 1958. They would have celebrated their 56thanniversary this November. In 1963 Gary and Pat moved their young family to Palm Beach, Florida where he worked for RCA building mainframe computers. They moved to Pompano Beach, Florida in 1967 where he worked at SDC as a technical writer. They moved to Poquoson, Virginia where he worked at Langley Air Force base where he worked on classified communication projects. He then moved to Northern Virginia where he worked at the Pentagon with Unisys Corporation. He retired to Oro Valley, Arizona to lead a life of leisure which included travel with his loving wife and best friend, Patricia. He enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren and extended family. His hobbies included building and driving his dune buggy on the beaches of South Florida, coaching youth sports, touring the Appalachian Mountains on his motorcycle, camping with his family, gardening, as well as automotive restoration. Gary was a comedian, a handy man, gardener, referee, loving husband, father, engineer, upholsterer, fabricator, but most of all he was a child of God. He is survived by his loving and devoted wife, Patricia Gill Johnston, children James Johnston, Teri (Johnston) Grede and husband Don, Cindy (Johnston) Cupelli , Wade Johnston and wife Rebecca, his sister Patricia Everhart and husband Glen and grandchildren: Sean Link, Joshua Cupelli, Jenna (Cupelli) Yu, Tanner Johnston, Haley Johnston, Garrett Johnston, and Lolly Grede. Brother and sister-in-laws, Raymond Gill, Dean & Colleen Gill, Kurtis and Nori Gill and many nieces and nephews, cousins, as well as extended family and friends. Funeral service will be held on Saturday, October 4 at 1:00 at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Palmer, Kansas. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in his name or St Pauls Lutheran Church c/o the funeral home.