06/04/2024
Charles David Johnson (C.D.) passed away on June 4, 2024.
He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Linda Johnson; his son, Chad Johnson; his sister, Jennifer Moore; and his granddaughter, Emma Johnson. C.D. was born in Knoxville, Iowa, on October 11, 1945.
He attended Morning Side College, where he played football and eventually obtained his master’s degree in physics, a subject he hated. When asked why he majored in a subject he hated, he said it was because it was his weakest subject. This would be a pattern for C.D.’s entire life. He would take something he was weak at and turn it into a strength.
C.D. enlisted in the Army in 1969 and spent 1970-1972 in Vietnam. This was a chapter in his life that would prove to be his greatest struggle until he took his final breath. In 1972, C.D. returned from Vietnam to join his wife and child in Steamboat Springs, where they had been awaiting his return. There, he joined his father, and they created Johnson Excavation. Over the next 40 years, C.D., Charlie, and eventually Chad would shape the Nampa Valley for decades to come.
In addition to growing the business, C.D. became a teacher and mentor to hundreds of employees. Many of these people are still in the excavation business today. Every single spring, on the first project of the year, C.D. would grab a handful of dirt and smell it, saying, “It doesn’t get any better than the fresh smell of topsoil and diesel.”
C.D.’s entire adult life was one great adventure after another. He would pick a hobby that he was interested in and work tirelessly to master it. Sailing with his son, golfing (although he never did master this one), skiing, mountain climbing, ice climbing, and firefighting. C.D. and his D-7 spent an entire summer fighting forest fires for the Forest Service.
He was so skilled that the U.S. Forest Service wanted to pay him and his beloved D-7 to travel around the country and be on the front lines fighting fires. His love for Linda and the pull to be with her proved so strong that he turned down the offer.
Through it all, nothing trumped his love of hunting. Whether elk hunting in Colorado, bird hunting in the Dakotas with his buddies, or going after the larger game in Africa, hunting was a true love. He spent countless hours a day perfecting his reloading skills.
For those who knew C.D. best, he was a loyal and loving husband, a father who never missed a sporting event and a lifelong teacher of all the important things. Becoming a grandfather turned him into a gentle, caring teddy bear.
Above all else, C.D. Johnson was a great man, an incredible craftsman, and a warrior. He will be missed by all who crossed his path and forever treasured by those who knew him best.
A celebration of life will be held at C.D.’s home on Saturday, July 27, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. His ashes will be spread in one of the ponds he built with his D-7.