Stuart Johnson, 77, passed away peacefully at home and into the presence of the Lord on the morning of October 30, 2023.

He was the youngest of three children born to Robert R. Johnson and Opal Stilwell Johnson in Newport, Oregon, while his father was playing in a band on a tour of the Pacific Northwest.  The little family of five stayed in Newport for two weeks.  Later, the family settled in Portland, OR, until Stu was twelve.  In Portland, band members would gather at their home to jam, which grew a love of music in all three children. In 1958 the family moved to Longview, Washington, where Stu graduated from Mark Morris High School in 1964.  In July of 1964, he joined the U.S. Navy and shipped off on the USS Midway headed for Vietnam.  He was awarded a Bronze Medal for combat on the inland waters of Vietnam and later awarded a George Washington honors medal from the Freedoms Foundation.  After he was honorably discharged from the Navy in 1968, he returned to Longview where he attended Lower Columbia College for two years before moving to Western Washington University in Bellingham.  There he majored in Literature, Psychology, and Philosophy.  He completed his bachelor degrees in 1988.  Meanwhile, in 1978, he moved to Yakima, Washington, first working as manager of Fred Meyer's shoe department until he found a job he loved:  working as a counselor at Klahowya House, a boys group home. It was in Yakima that he met his future wife, Marge.

Throughout his working life, Stu counted teaching at Master's Touch Christian School and counseling boys at Klahowya House in Yakima and at King County Juvenile Detention as his favorite positions.  While not working, he spent countless hours studying the bible and reading bible commentaries until, as a friend put it, he "answered all the big questions."  He wrote poetry that ranged from "On Cats Deserving Heaven" to "Strength from Scripture."  He also loved visiting the Oregon Coast, fishing, playing basketball, watching movies with anyone who happened by to visit, listening to music, playing chess, and he always loved animals.

Stu was preceded in death by his parents, his sister Susan and her husband Darrel, and his sister Jan.  He is survived by his wife, Marge, of 41 years, his nephew Darrel and niece Darla, sister-in-law Nancy, cousins Sally, Roy, Larry (Deborah), Lucinda (Charlie), Dan (Brenda), and David among his closest relatives and many friends, extended families, and church family.  He is also survived by three treasured caregivers from over the last two years, Kate, Ann, and Bob.

A memorial service was held at Grace Community Fellowship in Mount Vernon, WA, on November 18, 2023.  His grave marker at Hawthorne Funeral Cemetery will have engraved on it his favorite scripture from Psalm 119:105 "Thy Word was a light to my path."

We miss him, but we know he is in heaven now where "there will no longer be  any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain;                                                                      the first things have passed away" Revelation 21:4.