Donald Johnson is a writer, author, retired Navy officer, former information technology consultant and now a pastor and Internet entrepreneur.
Born in Camp Gordon, Georgia at the Army hospital and raised in Wichita, Kansas his mother's home town Donald spent his childhood attending four different elementary schools, one middle school and two high schools in and around Wichita. His mother passed away when he was sixteen years old and that event impacted his life in a big way.
Donald joined the Navy two weeks after graduating from Andover High School, in Andover, Kansas and spent 20 years of the next 22 ½ years on active duty. He rose to the rate of Radioman first class petty officer before receiving a commission as a limited duty officer remaining in his chosen field of communications.
After retiring from the Navy Donald worked for 11 years as an information technology consultant contracting his services out to the Navy and a few telecommunications and network design companies all located in the Sacramento/Stockton/Oakland areas of northern California.
Donald had to take a leave of absence from a telecommunications company where he was working as a sales executive to become the caretaker for his wife. During this leave of absence, he began to look at changing his career for the third time.
He began thinking about something his pastor had told him and that was to become a pastor of a small country church. He had been preaching at his home church, Rockville Presbyterian Fellowship in Fairfield, California. A Methodist lay minister friend asked him to preach a few times at the United Methodist Church in Maxwell, California. He was on a rotating schedule to preach at the Paradise Valley Retired Military Officers retirement center as well as an occasional sermon at the convalescent unit of the retirement center. Donald now pastors a small rural church in Oregon.
Donald considers himself an amateur writer who has no formal training in professional writing. He just wants to tell his stories. Once again, if you are expecting a great writer, you may be disappointed. He hopes that you can get some enjoyment out of reading his books.
He had written several stories and had edited stories from church members to publish his first book, Faith, Family, Friends. His second Christ-based book was one on fatherhood and was written with a Christian theme titled, Am I a Good Daddy?
He began to think about publishing his Navy sea stories. As you know sea stories start out as being true stories and the more the story is told exaggerations enter the story and before too long the sea story is a tall tale. Donald decided he had better tell his stories before they became tall tales. Some of his long time Navy friends wanted some of their stories told, so Donald told them that he would publish their stories in his book. His first Navy book was titled, It Wasn't Just a Job; It Was an Adventure. Donald admits there were mistakes in the book, but he does not feel that the mistakes take anything away from the story telling. More stories needed to be told, so he published his second Navy book, American Sailor. A third and final Navy book is on its way to the publisher this summer titled, American Sailors and United States Marines at War and Peace; Navy Sea Stories and Marine Corps Legacies.
Donald is currently working on two other books. One is a follow up to his first Christ-based book to be published in 2012. His autobiography he hopes will be published in 2011.
He resides in Buena Vista, Oregon, an unincorporated hamlet six miles south of Independence. He lives in the parsonage of Buena Vista Community Church where he is the pastor and church caretaker. His wife, Barbara was placed in a residential care facility for mentally ill women earlier this year of 2010. They have four daughters and eight grandchildren, 4 boys and 4 girls. Donald underwent triple bypass surgery on his heart in late 2010 and is in the process of healing.
Donald teaches parenting classes at a Christ-based pregnancy resource center in Albany, Oregon. He is a volunteer docent at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon, home of the Spruce Goose. He leads guided tours on his volunteer day.
He has earned associates of science, bachelors of art, masters and doctorate degrees.
He is a fun but serious professional speaker. Ask for him to speak at your high school and college graduations. He especially likes to speak at veterans events.
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