- Date Of Death: December 30, 2019
- State: Arizona
James (Jim) A. Johnson a Minnesota born husband, father, counselor and inspired athlete died from cancer Dec 30, 2019 in his home in Flagstaff, Arizona. Jim was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1935. He spent his entire life serving others through his energetic and optimistic view on life. Jim dedicated his time to helping heal those with addictions through his successful career in addictions counseling. He lived to help wounded and lost souls get back on track in their life and in their relationship with God. Jim was a faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and served valiantly in his many church callings including serving as a facilitator for the church’s 12 step recovery groups for many years.
Jim grew up in Minneapolis and graduated from Edison High School in 1954 with honors as the salutatorian. He was an avid athlete, his entire life and played football in high school and competed in cross-country skiing. Jim placed third place in the 1954 Minnesota State High School Cross Country Championships. He went on to attend Dartmouth University on a full-academic scholarship and later transferred to the University of Minnesota graduating with a degree in Journalism. Jim’s enthusiasm for sports started a legacy of competition with his three sons and they all went on to receive scholarships in college for competitive tennis.
At the center of Jim’s life was his wife Janet, who he met in 1980 and married in 1982 in Noblesville, Indiana. They raised their combined families together and Janet supported him in his quest to reach his full potential in life. Jim had a motto he would repeat regarding his greatest blessings, “God, Jesus and Janet!” At the age of fifty, Jim decided to pursue a MSW and graduated from Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, Texas. He worked and served tirelessly in his capacity to counsel youth and adults in addiction recovery in Casper, Wyoming for 20 years where he would regularly take at-risk youth skiing to Casper Mountain and mentor them back into full capacity in their lives.
Jim was awarded the distinct honor of carrying the Olympic torch for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City Utah. Jim was nominated as a torchbearer because of his selfless addictions counseling service and his love for sports and competition. Jim loved nothing more than cross-country skiing in the mountains of Casper Wyoming and then Flagstaff Arizona where he retired. He competed in skiing until his mid-70’s all over the United States and traveled to Norway to compete in the world renowned Birkebeiner ski race in 2004. He was also given a distinct honor from Edison High School in May of 2019 for being awarded the distinguished alumni award for his class.
Jim is survived by his wife Janet and his three sons,Mitch, Joey and Jimmy and nine grandchildren from his previous marriage to Patricia Twyford. Other survivors are his sister Judy Mehan, four stepchildren and five step grandchildren.
