After living a life full of adventure, making memories and in service to others, Dr. John Kent Johnson passed away on November 8, 2024. John began his educational career at Kansas University. A common theme throughout John's life is that he loved the fullness of life and camaraderie of close friendships. After taking an expansive combination of classes to figure out where his passions were, he heard about a new field and degree program in Computer Science and Medicine. He found his passion and completed his Master's in Electrical Engineering, followed by his PhD. at the University of Missouri- Columbia. Although his degrees were awarded through the Electrical Engineering program, Dr. Johnson was a computer scientist. After meeting his wife, Dr. Virginia "Ginny" Harr, in 1971, they dated for 7 years and married in 1978. For several years during his wife's residency, they resided in Houston, Texas. Dr. Johnson worked at the Johnson Space Center where he achieved his dream job of working on the Space Shuttle. He put together payloads for experiments, and his role was to make sure everything was space worthy, and integrating all of the requirements together. In 1984, Dr. Harr and Dr. Johnson made Chickasha, Oklahoma their home where Dr. Harr practiced medicine at Southern Plains Medical Center. Dr. Johnson quickly became known in the area for being knowledgeable about computers, and that he was willing to teach. He began teaching at USAO, and soon discovered that he was a gifted professor. Dr. Johnson found teaching to be energizing and engaging. He was never prouder of a student than when they became fully engaged in what interested them and succeeded. He wanted for every person to reach their full potential. Dr. Johnson was well known for beginning every Introduction to Computer class with a famous memory recall trick of calling out the entire roll call of the class from memory- sometimes even in reverse order! After teaching ended, he ran his own research computer company. He participated in a project for DARPA with self-driving cars. He was fascinated with computer detection of visual and LIDAR data. He felt that if a bird could navigate the world with a "bird brain" then there was no need for giant computers and giant computer programs. What made John so spectacular as a human was, he was encouraging to everyone around him, intellectually curious about everything, loved to cook, travel, eat, study nature, entertain and simply having good conversations with everyone. His family and friends will remember him for taking them on several trips throughout the years making memories. He was always looking to have fun and was often the ringleader in making sure people weren't taking life too seriously and missing out on the potential for a spark of joy. John is survived by his wife, Dr. Virginia Harr, sister Janice Hall and husband Hubey, brother Jerry Johnson and wife Patricia, a host of nieces and nephews, and will be missed by many former students, friends and family members. Funeral service will be held Friday, November 15, 2024 at 10:30 am at the Ferguson Funeral Home Chapel in Chickasha. Viewing will be held Thursday, November 14, 2024 from 2-7 pm. The family will receive friends from 4-6 pm on the viewing date. Family and friends are invited to attend both the viewing and funeral services. "Be still. Close your eyes. Breathe. Listen for my foot fall in your heart. I am not gone but merely walk within you. " Nicholas Evans