Keith L. Johnson

Keith Lalande Johnson, 87, of Oceanside, California passed away August 13, 2024. He was born in South Dakota on July 1, 1937, to Lalande and Esther Johnson. When Keith was very young, Lalande decided to move the family to California in pursuit of a better life. Esther, Keith, and his sister, Joann, made the then arduous train journey from South Dakota to Los Angeles and their new life began.

After finishing high school, Keith enlisted in the United States Air Force, where he served honorably for a four-year tour. He was posted briefly to California and Texas before being deployed to Honolulu, Hawaii to serve out his tour. After the military, Keith entered what would be a thirty-year career in sales. During those three decades, he established a flourishing business and then, after a brief flirtation with real estate, entered the world of mortgage banking, which he very much enjoyed. After retiring from banking, Keith, always one to want to be engaged, started a new career as an armed security guard. Despite the job’s physicality and taxing hours, he gained great personal satisfaction from that final chapter of his long working life. In 1965, Keith married Sandra Ward, originally of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Keith and Sandra had two sons.

Keith was best known for his sharp sense of humor, if occasional lack of filter, and friendly, bon vivant-style demeanor. His passions included baseball, watches, firearms, movies, electronic gadgetry of all kinds, police and military dramas, and going for very long (miles!) walks with his faithful companion later in life, his Chihuahua, Rusty. Keith was a patriot and loved America and its promise passionately, perhaps because it had been so good to him. He was an avid consumer of news in all its forms—print, television, and radio, but no (!) social media—and followed politics closely, as well.

Integrity and personal responsibility were important values to Keith, and he trained his sons to honor and practice them faithfully. He also preached, and lived with, a sense of drive and a desire to achieve that was contagious. He was passionate about education and sought throughout his life to keep learning in ways that he could. In good times and bad, Keith was generous to a fault and believed ardently in helping others who were less fortunate. Although not a regular churchgoer, Keith had a strong sense of spirituality and enjoyed attending religious services and functions.

Keith is preceded in death by his parents and sister. He is survived by his two sons, Gregory and Christopher, his daughter-in-law Joanna, and his two grandchildren, Nathan and Liam.