Ray Johnson was known as an ethical lawyer, a man who loved discussing almost any subject and a dad who took his sons to a homeless shelter on holidays where they helped serve meals to the poor.
Johnson, a former Lakewood city attorney, died Saturday from complications of prostate cancer. He was 82.
Johnson was city attorney from 1971 until 1976 and then went into private practice, specializing in oil, gas and water cases. He also did pro bono work, always for “the little guy,” said his son Ralph Johnson.
“He was never an advocate for the rich and powerful,” Ralph Johnson said.
“I never could overload Ray’s boat,” said Jim Richey, who was Lakewood mayor when Johnson was city attorney. “He never complained, and you could count on him for a solution or an answer.”
Johnson read and studied myriad subjects, and sometimes dinner at the Johnson home would last two hours because he would engage his family in conversations about almost anything, said his stepdaughter, Linda Randolph.
“He read to us as kids and read news articles to us when we were grown,” she said. “He was a fantastic father.”
Marlin Burke of Lakewood, a longtime friend and former law clerk of Johnson’s, said, “He was an ethical attorney, with thorough lawyering skills and a lot of personal compassion.”
Johnson gave time to many charities, taking meals to people through the Meals on Wheels program for more than 10 years, serving on the board of the Salvation Army and helping serve meals to the homeless on many Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.
In addition to current affairs, he loved to study history, read poetry and listen to Gilbert and Sullivan operas.
Raymond Cobb Johnson was born Feb. 18, 1923, in Fort Worth, Texas, and moved with his family to Tulsa, Okla., when he was an infant.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics at Colorado State University in Fort Collins and his law degree at the University of Colorado.
He married Ann Rath, and they had three children: Ralph Johnson of Littleton, David Johnson of Midland, Texas, and Marjorie Wilder of Lakewood. Ann Johnson died in 1963.
He later married Elizabeth Woodward, and they had two children: James Johnson of Golden and Jenny Johnson of Pocatello, Idaho. They divorced.
In 1977 he married Jacqueline Smith Addison, and she survives him.
In addition to his wife and five children, he is survived by 13 grandchildren, two great- grandchildren and three stepchildren: Linda Randolph and Ted Addison, both of Lakewood, and Cliff Addison of Anchorage, Alaska.
Staff writer Virginia Culver can be reached at 303-820-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com.
