July 21, 2006

‘Vivacious’ Vivian Johnson loses battle with multiple system atrophy

September 1931 – July 2006

Vivian L. Johnson, 74, was an Almaden Valley resident from 1964 to 2000. On July 15, she died peacefully in her Rossmoor, Walnut Creek, Calif. home of multiple system atrophy, a rare degenerative neurological disorder.

Her cheerful, vivacious personality endeared her to her family and many friends, even during her six-year decline. She was looking forward to, as she put it, beginning her “big adventure with God.”

Vivian Johnson

She was born in Burlington, Vt. and was “transplanted” here by her California husband, Dwight, whom she met when he was in the Air Force in Burlington. After his return from the Korean Conflict, they were married and lived in Niagara Falls, N.Y., Lafayette, Ind. (Purdue University), and Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

IBM moved the family to San Jose in 1964. For 36 years, she enjoyed raising her family in the neighborly Almaden Valley and being active in the Presbyterian Church of Los Gatos. The couple’s children received an excellent education at various schools in the growing Valley—starting with the old Almaden Elementary School at Blossom Hill Road. Vivian and Dwight “downsized” to a new home in Walnut Creek (Rossmoor), Calif. in the year 2000.

Vivian is survived by Dwight, to whom she was a loving wife for 52 wonderful years, by children Kathleen Coleman, Douglas Johnson, Julie Johnson, and Cynthia Blaschak, and her grandchildren Rebekah, Connie, and Chelsea Coleman, and Giacinto and Pia Jondonovan, all of whom brought her great joy. In Vermont, she is survived by two of four siblings.

Applying her Christian faith in practical ways was very important to her. Church-related personal interests included being an elder, women’s groups and choir. With her husband, she worked with church youth, and served overseas renovating mission hospitals, and teaching indigenous mechanics how to build good quality wheelchairs. She was a devoted homemaker, an avid tennis player (often seen at Almaden Swim and Racquet Club), aerobic exerciser, backpacker, seamstress, reader, gardener, and community volunteer. After raising her children, she earned a medical assistant degree and served in that field for eight years with a family doctor in Almaden Valley.

A celebration of Vivian’s life will be held at the Presbyterian Church of Los Gatos (P.C.L.G.) at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 6. Vivian requested that memorial donations in her name be made to the P.C.L.G., 16575 Shannon Rd., Los Gatos, CA, 95032 or to the Hospice of Contra Costa County Foundation, 3470 Buskirk Ave., Walnut Creek, CA 94523.