David Valentine Johnson, 85, formerly of Conneaut Lake, died peacefully at his home in Meadville on Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009, and has been welcomed into the arms of God.

He was born in Elgin, Ill., on Aug. 13, 1924, the older son of the late Isola Bell Valentine and Julius Johnson.

He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Mary Jo Thorne Johnson, whom he married on Dec. 21, 1945; four children, Thomas Ray Johnson and his wife, Cathie of Sewickley, Steven Thorne Johnson and his wife, Maureen, of Nashville, Tenn., Claire Johnson Glove and her husband, Ron, of Canfield, Ohio, and Corinne Johnson Meeder of North East; 13 grandchildren, Elizabeth Johnson Kindelberger and her husband, Walt, of Delmont, Laurel Johnson Pantezzi of Germantown, Md., Christopher David Johnson of Brooklyn, N.Y., David N. Johnson and his wife, Valerie, of London, U.K., Daniel Johnson of Cleveland, Ohio, Jens P. Johnson of Cleveland, Robin Glove Mara and her husband, Ian, of Westerville, Ohio, Kirsten Glove of Brooklyn, Matthew Glove of Canfield, Ohio, Erik Stureson of Cambridge Springs, Kaitlin Stureson of Meadville, Anders Stureson of North East and Linnea Stureson of North East; six great-grandchildren, Genna and Aly Kindelberger, Chase and Ellie Pantezzi, Caleb Daniel Green and Colin Mara; and also by Boel Jakobsson and Fredrik Stureson.

Dave was preceded in death by his brother, Raymond Julius Johnson; and great-grandson, Trevor Alexander Pantezzi.

Dave also considered the family’s several foreign exchange students as his own including Ian Ross (United Kingdom), Per Svantesson, Jennie Svantesson Andreen, Matti Svantesson (all Sweden), Adadu Yemane (Ethiopia), Cathy Levavasseur (France) and Kris Gudjonsson (Iceland).

He served 42 months as a meteorologist in the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II and earned a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Michigan in 1946.

He spent his working career with Reo Motors, Lansing, Mich.; Townsend Co., New Brighton; Robert Heller & Associates, Cleveland; and White Motor Corp., Cleveland. Tiring of the corporate life, in 1974 he partnered with his brother, Ray, in opening a Union 76 Auto/Truck Plaza in Youngstown, Ohio and also acquired another auto/truck plaza near Clearfield.

In 1965 he and his wife built the first of two homes on Conneaut Lake, which have provided great pleasure to family and friends, hospice retreats, Christian writers and poets, needlewomen and several other groups.

His interest in weather continued until his death and he also enjoyed gardening (raspberries, blueberries and many other fruits and vegetables), bee keeping, golf, water sports as well as repairing and refinishing antique American clocks. His wonderful writings include the Johnson family genealogy, his life story; and the History of High Street Community Church and Conneaut Lake. He and his wife loved to travel and covered much of the globe.

Dave had been an active member of High Street Community Church, Conneaut Lake, where he served as teacher, elder and enthusiastic choir member. He was also a member of the Iroquois Club. In his youth, he was active in Boy Scouts, achieving the rank of Eagle Scout.

Calling hours will be Friday from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. at Robert W. Waid Funeral Home Inc., 581 Chestnut St., Meadville.

A memorial service will be Saturday at 1 p.m. at High Street Community Church, 9517 U.S. Highway 322, Conneaut Lake, with the Rev. David M. Meckley, pastor, officiating.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to High Street Community Church, P.O. Box 248 Conneaut Lake, Pa. 16316; Hospice of Crawford County, 464 Pine St., Meadville, Pa. 16335; or Wesbury Foundation Benevolence Fund, 31 N. Park Ave., Meadville, Pa. 16335.