Kurt Johnson

Kurt was born April 19, 1925 in Brooklyn, New York and was the only child of Carl Johnson and Margareta Johnson. Kurt graduated from the prestigious Brooklyn Technical High School and immediately volunteered for the US Army Air Corp in WWII. He completed pilot training and became a commissioned officer. He flew B-17’s and B-29’s bombers until the end of the war.

After the war, Kurt attended MIT and the Polytechnic Institute of New York, earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering. He also pursued graduate studies at Newark College of Engineering and George Washington University.

Kurt was a pioneer in the early days of communications and computer systems. His expertise included groundbreaking laboratory design of digital radiotelephone systems, as well as radar and computer systems. He was a key developer for the first U.S. active satellite system, and served as chief resident consultant to NATO’s first satellite system. He became an early expert in radio communications, and supported both the FAA and DoD in implementing their early radio communication systems. Kurt was also an instructor of these new technical fields, and authored textbooks on circuit design requirements and radio link analysis for both analog and digital systems. During the last 13 years of his career, he applied his expertise in support of several U.S. intelligence agencies.

After retiring, he and his wife Henny moved from Fairfax, Virginia to Cary, North Carolina where they enjoyed many wonderful years with their newly found friends and neighbors. In the summers, he and Henny continued to live in their cabin in southern Norway where Henny was born.

Kurt strongly believed in giving back to the community and donated his time to many organizations: Scouting, Western Wake Hospital volunteer and Cary Senior Center Board of Directors, Kiwanis, two Scandinavian organizations and his Home Owners Association. He will be remembered for his compassion, generous spirit, love of life, wonderful sense of humor, and his undying pride and love of his children and devotion to his grandchildren.

Kurt is preceded in death by his wife of 58 years Henny Johnson, and daughter Crysta Patterson. He is survived by two remaining daughters and a son: Sandi, and her husband Gary and their two sons, Jim and Steve; Eve de Vito and her husband Marco; Glenn and his wife Nancy, and their two daughters Ashley and Emma; and granddaughter Jessica Patterson, child of Crysta Patterson.

A service will be held on October 2, 2021, at 4pm at Brown-Wynne Funeral Home at 200 SE Maynard Rd, Cary, NC.

For the safety of all, the funeral home requires all guests to wear a mask while on the premises, and the family asks that only vaccinated guests attend. Hopefully these actions will create a safe environment for a post-service gathering that guests feel comfortable enough to attend.