Kirby W Johnson

Kirby William Johnson was born in Jacksonville, FL on October 1, 1943, the first born child to Clarence “Soapy” Johnson and Josephine June Johnson, while Soapy was based there in the Navy. Kirby grew up in Antigo, WI and met his future wife, Jill, while swimming at Post Lake in the summer 1963. He went on to earn a BS in Civil Engineering at Michigan Tech University while working and living in the basement at Saint Albert Catholic Church. He often joked that he was a great chapel floor scrubber thanks to that experience.

After graduating Kirby moved to Washington State to use his engineering skills at the largest airplane manufacturer in the world, Boeing. During his 40+ years in airframe structures engineering, he became an expert in flight deck window designs and was responsible for window certification testing for the Boeing 737, 757, 767, 777, and 787 aircrafts. He was a distinguished engineer who spent 25 years as Designated Engineering Representative appointed by the Federal Aviation Administration, participated in numerous aircraft accident investigations around the world, and was a consultant on 100+ aircraft engineering projects. But Kirby will most be remembered by his dedication to training and mentoring dozens of engineers with his patience, warmth, and humor. As one of his colleagues shared, “No matter what problem I would run by him, he would always have another perspective to share. He had a way of teaching us without it feeling like we were being taught.” Another colleague noted “When there was a hard problem, he usually had a good story to tell that was encouraging. I am certain I am a better engineer having worked with him.” Kirby worked at Boeing until his retirement in 2012, but continued to consult and spend time with his Boeing friends and retired engineers.

Kirby was also a dedicated husband and father of three, Teresa, Amanda, and K.C. He spent many a weekend helping his children practice their respective sports, or working on a motorcycle or classic car project. He loved to go watch their games and support them in reaching their goals. He passed on his love of guitar playing to his son K.C., showing him how to play Walk Don’t Run by The Ventures. He made sure to pass on his wry wit and sense of self sufficiency to all of his children. In later years Kirby and Jill enjoyed retirement with a shared condo in Maui, HI, where he fell in love with slack key guitar music and scuba diving in the tropical waters. Kirby and Jill enjoyed early morning brunch at their favorite breakfast spot in Bothell, the Country Cafe. Together they enjoyed reading and shared a love for the public library system. Every week there would be a new stack of books and movies on the coffee table. In later years he was also a devoted grandfather to James, Amya, and Tyra, volunteering in his grandchildren’s classrooms and attending their sports games and matches in person or virtually. In the past year, he was particularly obsessed with getting to watch Amya’s volleyball games via video. To his grandchildren he passed on the life skills of building docks, pouring cement driveways, chopping wood, and making breakfast favorites like waffles and scones. Kirby spent 55 years as a devoted husband and dedicated caretaker to his family.

Perhaps the most defining part of Kirby’s life was his irrepressible love of the ocean and scuba diving in the Salish SeaSea, which he did for more than 50 years. It wasn’t just getting to dive himself, he was passionate about the community and sharing diving with others. In the 1970s, Kirby created curriculum for advanced scuba diving programs at three local community colleges and trained divers for the Boeing scuba club, The Boeing SeaHorses. For the past 25 years he had been a reliable weekly diver at the Edmonds Underwater Park, building up the park's structures that help the sea life to thrive, with a special fascination and care for Lingcod (a fish that can live up to 35 years and weigh 70 lbs!). For decades Kirby was actively involved in observing and measuring changes in the marine environment including coordination of an annual Lingcod nesting census with fellow divers and co-writing and presenting papers at conferences. In addition to his work on the park, Kirby could regularly be found caring for and feeding sea life in the Underwater Dome at the Seattle Aquarium where he was a volunteer for 20+ years. Kirby was a citizen scientist and an original member of the Snohomish County Marine Resource Committee, including serving as chair and representative to the Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Commission. He even encountered a Great White Shark before there was Shark Week. The scuba diving community was his second family and the Puget Sound was his second home. As his co-author shared, “Kirby was one of my favorite people when it comes to diving, lingcod, and living life to its fullest.”

Always a consummate storyteller with a wry sense of humor, he knew how to spin a yarn and get people laughing. He will be missed dearly by his diving buddies, his Boeing colleagues, his co-volunteers, his family far and wide, and his dear friends, too many to count. Kirby is survived by his wife Jill Johnson; his children Teresa (and Robert Dietrich), Amanda, and K.C. (and Anika Lehde); his grandchildren James, Tyra, and Amya; as well as his siblings Mike Johnson, Sally (and Richie) Langan, Susan (and Ron) Johnson-Schutte, Peg (and Teddy) Pagels, and Chris (and Gail) Johnson.

A private celebration of life will be held on December 12, 2023. Please email [email protected] to receive details. In lieu of flowers, donations can be given in Kirby’s name to the Puget Sound Restoration Fund (restorationfund.org).