Dana Francis Johnson

DANA FRANCIS JOHNSON was born in Bismarck, North Dakota, in 1925, the sixth child of the late Rev. Luther Ray and Martha Effie (Warford) Johnson. He died on May 17, 2020, at The Newton Presbyterian Manor where he has been a resident since 2007. He received his public education in Kansas and graduated from Liberty Memorial High School in Lawrence in June, 1943, and was immediately drafted into the United States Army Air Corps (later Air Force), serving in the Pacific Theater. He was separated in December, 1945, entered the University of Kansas and completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1950. He did advanced studies at the Institute of Design in Chicago, and in April, 1952, married Mary Elizabeth Herriott of Lawrence. She died on April 13, 1982, in Greeley, Colorado. In 1957, he was awarded the Doctor of Education degree by the University of Kansas. He taught art-related courses in colleges and universities in Missouri, Kansas, and Colorado, and retired in 1986 from the University of Northern Colorado. In retirement, he lived for a time in the Colorado Rockies, then moved to Newton in October, 1992, where he has since lived. He was a member of the First United Presbyterian Church. He is survived by a son, Steven Johnson, of Newton, and a granddaughter, Amy Johnson, of New Jersey, and numerous nephews and nieces.