David M. Johnson

David M. Johnson was born in St. Elmo, Ill., on April 12, 1944, and passed away from cancer on July 19, 2014. He was married for 49 years to Diane Kelly Johnson. He graduated from Effingham High School in 1962 and after marrying in 1965 went into the Army for two years. He was a specialist and was stationed both in the United States and in Heidelberg, Germany.
Upon returning to the U.S., he become a police officer in Washington, D.C. He worked during the riots and protests and was also a homicide detective. He then moved to Decatur, Ill., in 1971 where he and Diane had two children. He was a police sgt. there and also helped to establish the K9 unit. He retired to the loss of vision in one eye in 1984 and moved to Phoenix, where he remained the rest of his life.
He had a strong sense of intuition as a cop and was able to help many people both personally and privately. In his spare time, he was active in his church and was an avid bowler. Later in life, he received his pro bowler card. He was a very strong personality and many people loved him.
My father was extremely patriotic, highly intelligent and fanatical about his family. Family was everything to him and he is greatly missed.
He is survived by his wife Diane, his son Matt Johnson and fiance Debra, his daughter Melissa Holmberg and husband Todd, and five grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his father, Sgt. William Sutherland, who died in World War II as a POW, and his mother, Doris Johnson, who died from Alzheimer's. He had no siblings.