David Lee Johnson

David Lee Johnson, age 64, left this earth to join his eternal wife on the morning of Friday, July 5th, 2024.  David was born in Duluth, Minnesota, on December 7, 1959, to Robert and Laverne Johnson and passed away from health complications at Los Robles Hospital in Thousand Oaks, CA.  He is preceded in death by his wife, Denise Sue Johnson, and mother, Laverne Johnson.  He is survived by his daughter, Lindsay Woods (Ryan); sons, David and Ryan Johnson; father, Robert Johnson, sisters, Karen Haden and Sibra Johnson; grandchildren, Brianna Johnson, Noah Johnson, and Chloe Woods.

David's love of aviation and flying planes led him to earn his pilot's license in his mid-teens. He graduated from Sherman E. Burroughs High School in 1978. After graduation, he joined the Navy and served a tour in San Diego as an aircraft mechanic.

David, or Dave as his friends called him, met the mother of his children in 1985 at their job in Northrup and married soon after.  After they married, they moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he studied Airframe and Powerplant at Spartan School of Aeronautics, started a furniture business with his wife, chased storms, and had their first child. This is where his love of weather flourished.

In 1989, they moved to Utah where he worked as a ski instructor with his wife in Park City. Here they had their second child.  They lived in Utah for 5 years before moving back to Ridgecrest, CA to be closer to family and had their third child.

Dave took great pride in serving Ridgecrest and surrounding areas through his self-started news organization, High Desert News.  For more than 20 years, he provided his profound journalism skills to the community and larger news providers. It was his desire to "get the word out' with as much accuracy as possible and made sure to honor first responders in his stories—it was always about helping the community.  In 2016, David provided extensive coverage of the devastating Erskin Creek fire, earning him an Emmy Award in Journalism through his contribution to KGET 17 news in Bakersfield.

A lover of life, David sought to experience it through multiple hobbies and passions.  Carpenter, guitarist, singer, writer, photographer, journalist, and pilot, to name a few. One of the passions he was most known for was chasing the weather.  He encouraged others to join Skywarn to learn about the dangers of weather and what to look out for.  David was a lifelong learner who loved to share his knowledge, with his purpose always being to help others.  He loved people and could talk to anyone, becoming instant lifelong friends with random strangers.  Among his many hobbies and interests, he also greatly enjoyed sharing stories about his life experiences and making others laugh. He believed laughter was the best medicine for the soul.

David will be remembered for his kindness and free spirit, which he let guide him through many adventures in his life. He had the spirit of a child, a young soul, who loved to crack a joke, play pranks, and explore the outdoors with continual awe and inspiration.