Lois Johnson

Lois Marion Johnson (nee Compton) of Goleta died peacefully in her sleep at Mission Terrace in
Santa Barbara on December 13, 2019. She was 93.

Lois was born March 26, 1926 on her parents’ farm about a mile north of Oberon, North Dakota.
She was the eldest of four children born to Horace and Katherine Compton. She graduated valedictorian of her class from Oberon High School in 1943, and attended Jamestown College in Jamestown, North Dakota. Lois sang in the choir and was selected homecoming queen in 1946. She graduated with a B.A. in History and Political Science in 1947.

After graduation, Lois taught junior high social studies and history in LaMoure, ND. There she met Owen Johnson, who was the principal, math teacher and science teacher at the high school. Lois and Owen were married in Oberon on June 10, 1951. The couple lived in LaMoure and continued to teach for three more years, then moved to Junction City, Oregon in 1954 where Lois taught social studies at the local junior high school. The Johnsons’ three children were born in nearby Eugene between 1956 and 1960.

In the summer of 1961, Owen accepted a job teaching math at Santa Barbara High School and the Johnsons moved to Goleta. Owen later transferred to Dos Pueblos High when it opened in 1966, and taught there until his death in 1981. Lois worked in the Dos Pueblos library from the late 1970’s until her retirement in 1996.
Lois was a patient and supportive educator who was known for her kindness, faithfulness and quiet strength. She was an active member of the Goleta Presbyterian Church and a longtime member of chapter RO in the women’s philanthropic organization P.E.O.

Lois is survived by her sister, Katherine Aslakson of Billings, MT; son and daughter-in-law Jim and Gina Johnson of Davis, CA; son Brad Johnson of Tucson, AZ; daughter Andrea Johnson of Goleta; four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband Owen and brothers Earl and Horace.