Mr William A. Johnston

William Arthur (Bill) Johnston, age 78, passed away January 17, 2023, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Bill was born November 16, 1944, in New Castle, Pennsylvania, to Thomas and Ruth (Turner) Johnston. In 1952, Bill’s family moved to Gardner Stop, Shenango Township, PA, and he attended grades 3-12 at Shenango Township schools, graduating from Shenango High School in 1962.

Bill attended Geneva College in Beaver Falls, PA, in 1962, and enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1963. While in the Air Force, he studied Russian language at Syracuse University, eventually serving as a radio operator in Pakistan. Bill was honorably discharged from the Air Force in 1967, having attained the rank of Staff Sergeant.

After completing his service, Bill rejoined his parents and younger siblings who had moved to Hastings, Michigan. In Michigan, Bill attended Michigan State University, and worked for businesses around the state over the course of almost 40 years. In Hastings, Bill was employed by Sikemma Poured Wall, Northside Pizza, Hastings Commercial Printers, and Progressive Graphics, and by the Boys Training School in Lansing, MI.

Bill married Marjorie Blough in 1975, and the couple moved to Tekonsha, MI, where Marjorie gave birth to four boys, and where Bill spent 11 years as an assistant manager at Douglas Corporation. After Marjorie and Bill divorced in 1987, Bill trained as a computer programmer and employed those skills for nearly a decade at Arrow Uniform Rental in Taylor, MI.

In 2004, Bill moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, to join three of his sons. He remained in Santa Fe until his death, working at Walgreens Pharmacy and, after retirement, hiking in the mountains 3-4 days a week. Bill loved reading, music, nature and exploring the world around him. He was an avid runner in high school and through his thirties, and also enjoyed bicycling and swimming.

Bill was the proud father of four sons, Matthew (Sorakamol Prapasiri), Abel, Daniel and James Johnston, and grandfather of six. Bill was preceded in death by his parents, by his sister, Evelyn Koprivnikar, brother-in-law John Koprivnikar, and by sisters-in-law Diana (Brown) Johnston and Patricia (Pia) Johnston. Bill is survived by his children and grandchildren, ex-wife Marjorie, by brothers Thomas, James (Sherry), John, Robert (Anne Saliers), by sisters Jennifer (Karl) Schroeder, Rebecca (Jeff) Parker, by sister-in-law Elizabeth Johnston, and by many, many nieces and nephews.

Bill will be buried February 6, 2023, in a private ceremony at the Santa Fe National Cemetery.

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