Donald Norman Johnson, 92, of 16 Fitch Manor in Claremont died Thursday Dec. 12, 2013  at Valley Regional Hospital due to complications from pneumonia. He was born in Rhode Island on July 21,1921. Son of Esther (Gustafson) and Nils Johnson. He attended Lockwood High School in Warwick, RI. graduating in 1939. He was a track and field star athlete who set a record time in hurdles that was not surpassed for 20 years.

 Upon graduation he enrolled at Rhode Island School of Design for one year before enlisting in the Navy when WWII started. He rose to the rank of Chief Machinist mate on the fleet of minesweepers that were protecting the East Coast. In 1947 he married Hazel Carlin, a marriage that lasted 63 years. He worked for his father's manufacturing business, raised a family and was active at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Warwick, providing water-skiing and spiritual fellowship for teenagers at their summer home.

 In 1965 after his mother's death, he decided to move his family from RI to the mountains of Gilford, NH. He built a house, a studio and made a living as a sign painter until 1972. It was at this time when he almost lost his wife to a sudden illness, that he decided life was too short to wait for retirement. They sold the house, bought a sailboat in Florida and lived on it for the next 7 years.

 In 1979 he sold the boat and moved to Claremont where his wife was attending NH Vocational Tech. She had jumped ship two years earlier and was starting a career as a COTA in the Claremont school system. He settled down to the humdrum of life and happily worked for SAU #6  as a part time custodian for the next 30 years.

 Those who knew him were inspired by his devotion to his wife. He encouraged and helped her with a dream of getting a Bachelor Degree from UNH which she finally achieved at the age of 70. He also lovingly cared for her through years of declining health until her death in 2010. He was a great artist whose passion was painting watercolors and sailing. People were amazed at how he kept in such great shape for his age. He will be greatly missed for his kindness, smile and a rare charm he never knew he had.

 Surviving family includes his two sons David Johnson and daughter-in-law Sarah, of Meredith, N.H. and Steven Johnson of Concord and his daughter Donna Johnson of Claremont.

 Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, Dec. 20 at Stringer Funeral Home, 146 Broad St, in Claremont, with the Rev. Priscilla Hull officiating.

Friends may call at the funeral home from 10 until 11 a.m. Interment will follow at Mt. View Cemetery.

The family suggests that donations may be made in his memory to the Stevens High School Alumni Memorial Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 710, Claremont, NH 03743.