David Johnson

David Johnson was born on August 12, 1947, the son of Richard and Beth (Froning) Johnson in Lyons, Kansas. He was the oldest of three children. Dave grew up on his family’s farm, driving the tractor by age 10 and working alongside his father. He graduated from Lyons H.S. then went on to earn a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Kansas State University. While in college, Dave met the love of his life, Peggy. They spent many dates at a local coffee shop where they could talk all night after purchasing a 25-cent cup of coffee. They married in 1968. The couple moved to Saginaw, Michigan with Dave working at General Motors. There he designed and patented the “Fluid Pump with Control Means,” which is still used in vehicles today. While in Michigan, daughters Laurie and Cheryl were born. In 1975, the family moved back to Kansas with Dave first working on a farm in Lewis, then for Cross Manufacturing in Wichita. In 1982, he and the family moved to Oklahoma where Dave worked for Braden Winch until his retirement in 2012. He loved the farm throughout his life and joined his father with planting and harvest whenever he could and helped manage his family’s farm in his retirement. Dave could fix anything and loved “making sawdust” in his shop. When Dave and Peg got married, they could not afford both tools and furniture. They bought the tools, and Dave made the furniture. In addition to furniture, he made heirloom-quality rocking horses for his grandchildren, mantel clocks, and beautiful butcher block cutting boards. He gave most of these as gifts to family and friends. As an engineer, he joked that everything could be fixed with either WD40 or duct tape, and while he used WD40 frequently, he rarely fixed anything with duct tape—he determined the best way to do a job then did it right. He enjoyed spending time at Grand Lake. He had a lot of fun pulling his grandchildren on the “triple dog” behind the boat, but mostly enjoyed taking in the beauty of the trees and the water along with Peggy. Dave could often be found at First Christian Church serving in nearly every capacity. His pastor stated the first thing people would say whenever there was a problem to be solved was, “Call Dave.” Above all Dave loved spending time with his family. Growing up, Laurie and Cheryl were often by his side on the tractor, in the shop, or under the car. One day, a neighbor walked up as Dave was on his creeper working under a car and began lamenting the fact that God gave Dave daughters instead of sons. Dave pushed out from under the car and said, “I think God knew what He was doing when He gave me daughters.” About that time, Laurie and Cheryl emerged from under the car. Dave spent quality “shop time” with his grandchildren whenever he was with them, but also wrote letters, texted, and called them regularly when he couldn’t see them face to face. Services will be held on Monday, May 15th at 11:00am at First Christian Church, 2602 S. Elm Pl, Broken Arrow, OK. In honor of Dave, please consider wearing a blue plaid shirt to the services, pocket protector optional. He is survived by: Wife: Peggy Johnson of the home Daughters: Cheryl Stone and husband, Greg Kamp of Oklahoma City, OK Laurie Johnson and husband Jason of Papillion, Nebraska Grandchildren: Alice, Megan, George, Macy, Faith, Emma, Jessica, Isaiah Siblings: Adele Hillner Mary White and husband, Grant

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David Johnson

August 12, 1947 - May 1, 2023