Edward Ronald Johnson

Edward Ronald Johnson was born in Portland and defied cancer’s assault until his 92nd birthday had been celebrated. That same grit and determination served him well in a life distinguished by his decorated service as a Marine in some of the South Pacific’s most hellish battlefields, his building of a successful painting contracting business that beautified Portland’s premier commercial buildings, his raising of a solid family, his rise to the highest levels of the Masonic Lodge, and the reputation for ironclad integrity that defined every chapter of his life. Edward was a visionary entrepreneur who launched an interior decoration retail business in the 1960s on Portland’s NW 23rd Ave., anticipating long before others the thriving retail thoroughfare that NW 23rd would become. His massive capacity for work and loyalty to those he served with kept him active in the painting contracting business until age 90, when he could still rise earlier and churn figures faster than many a fraction of his age. Edward lost his wife Marilyn in 2006. He is survived by daughter Cheryl, son Ted, and grandchildren Khiranne, Sean, Kelsey and Will. A service will be held Thursday, March 3, at 2:00 p.m. at Willamette National Cemetery, Portland followed by a 3:00 p.m. reception at The Old Spaghetti Factory, 12725 SE 93rd Avenue in Clackamas, OR. Service Information