James M. Johnson ’65 died on March 15, 2013, in Tucson, Arizona.
(The following was published in the Arizona Daily Star on March 24, 2013):
He passed away peacefully in the presence of his life partner, caregivers and chaplain. Born to parents, Audra Baker and Guy Johnson in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Jim and his sister, Nancy were raised in Phoenix, Arizona. He attended Heard Elementary School and graduated from West High School, class of 1961. His strong belief in people, ideas and ethics, language and culture, and social causes began to take shape through course work at Bowden College in Maine and later, Whittier College in California, where he graduated in 1965 with a triple major in Spanish, French and Political Science. Jim spoke Brazilian, Portuguese and Catalan as well; loved classical music and opera, musical theater and drama, movies and film history. He is survived by his life partner of 26 years, Gordon Chaidez; sister, Nancy Schaible and brother-in-law, Richard Schaible. Heartfelt thanks to Patty Adkins and Manni Gutierrez for their compassionate hospice care.