Eugene L. Johnson passed away March 16, 2019, at Hospice House in Spokane, Washington, after a life devoted to music education and his family.

He was born September 23, 1932, at the family home in Green Ridge, Missouri. His father, Carl E. Johnson, was a mechanic at the Ford garage in Green Ridge and later became a farmer. His mother, Elizabeth Lunn Johnson, was a homemaker. She had been a high school English teacher until her marriage when the school board said one breadwinner in the family was enough. He had one sister, Jane, whom he respected and adored.

Eugene spent the summers of his boyhood barefoot. "I did not wear shoes in the summertime," he recalled. "My feet took a beating but that's the way all the boys in the neighborhood did. I wasn't unique." In 1936, the family moved to a farm. Eugene's chores included watering and feeding livestock, plowing corn and beans, and combining wheat.

Eugene felt fortunate to have several good trombone teachers: Miss Seeley in Green Ridge who "started me out," Harry Trotman in Green Ridge; and when he went to Central Missouri State College, C.A. Burmeister.

On December 31, 1950, Eugene met Marjorie Kelly, the love of his life. "I was working as a night man at a funeral home," Eugene recalled. "She and some of her friends came by to see me on New Year's Eve. She was interesting and charming." Marjorie was working as a nurse in the hospital across the street from the funeral home. "My roommate thought it was a good idea to be friends with the nurses to increase business at the funeral home," Eugene said. As Eugene and Marjorie Kelly started dating, their names became a portmanteau. Their friends would see them walking together and say, "There goes Gene Kelly."

In 1954, Eugene graduated from Central Missouri State with a bachelor's degree in music education. He married Marjorie Jewel Kelly on May 21, 1955, in Sedalia, Missouri. He earned a master's degree in music education from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, in 1957.

He later studied music education at University of Illinois where he met composer John Cage, who audited a class Eugene took (and the class "became a conversation between the instructor and John Cage," Eugene remembered).

Over the years, Eugene taught music at Knob Noster High School in Knob Noster, Missouri; J.C. Penney High School in Hamilton, Missouri; Homewood, Illinois, elementary schools; and Thornton Township High School in Harvey, Illinois. He served as director of music education for Quincy Public Schools in Quincy, Illinois, from 1969 through 1989.

In 1992, Eugene and Marjorie moved to Spokane to be closer to their grandchildren. In 2013, they moved to Grass Valley, California, again to be closer to additional grandchildren. They made many new friends at the Bret Harte residential community in Grass Valley. They returned to Spokane in the fall of 2018.

In Quincy, Eugene played trombone in the Heidelberg German Band. In Spokane, he taught brass sectionals at Lewis and Clark High School, worked as Santa Claus at Riverpark Square and played trombone in the Spokane British Brass Band.

Eugene bought a BMW motorcycle when he was 50 years old. He enjoyed riding it for several years and once rode it from Quincy, Illinois, to the Atlantic Ocean in Delaware. He also enjoyed several trips to Europe, including visits to England, Ireland, the Netherlands, France and Italy.

Eugene was preceded in death by his beloved sister, Jane Gibler. He is survived by his wife, Marjorie Johnson of Spokane, Washington; his three daughters and their partners, Carla Johnson and Steve Rodby of Shoreline, Washington; Rosemary and Clifford Johnson of Spokane; Sarah and Tony Campbell of Montreal, Quebec; and his grandchildren, Kelly Guilfoil and her partner, Joe Sprinkle; Robin Guilfoil and his partner, Karleen Ilagan; and Miles and Nathan Campbell.

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