Raymond Dennis Johnson

July 15, 1953 - February 18, 2019
I am Raymond Dennis Johnson, now deceased at the stunning age of only 65. Due to poor eye sight I had to over come various challenges in my life. I had a hard-working father and mother and four fabulous younger sisters, a constant source of love and drama. My mother (Anne Johnson) taught me piano and guitar when I was young; she was herself self-taught. Turns out I loved music! My friends and I would constantly look for deals on records and eventually I worked in a record store, later a general manager, which is when I met my wife. I performed in a band and professionally for 15 years after high school. While living in Kamloops I married Serena and had two son's Jeff 1981 and Michael 1984. I managed to finish my Grade 10 Conservatory of Music in Piano and got a diploma in TV and Audio Repair between the times of my two son's birth. I was convinced computers were the future and when the family moved to Richmond, I got a personal computer with a green-only monitor and began to learn DOS prompt. I started working in electronics and accounting, and from this point I held multiple jobs for the rest of my life. 

In Richmond, I enrolled my two sons in the Scouts program and became a Scoutmaster (eleven years) in order to spend more time with them. In 1991, I started working for London Drugs, where I spent 24 years becoming known to many as "the computer guy". My wife left in 2002 but then I began a second life with Bertha a year later. I learned to dance and it became my passion as I hosted monthly dances for 14 years, meeting many people and creating friendships. Bertha and I danced every week all throughout the Greater Vancouver. I went on cruises nearly every year after my first in 2003 and danced all night, every night. 

I was happy to see both of my children married in 2015. I was getting really close to retirement, and was looking forward to finally finishing renovations on my home and spending time with my family. I leave behind my father (at 94) Christopher Johnson and four sisters, Valerie, Patricia, Lorraine and Theresa, my two boys Jeffrey and Michael, and my grandson Lincoln. 

Service will be at St. Luke's Catholic Church on Saturday, March 2nd, 2019 in Maple Ridge at 11 am and reception (wake) at noon.