David "Joe" Johnson, held his time at West Buckland in the highest regard and considered that it was the making of him.  During his time at West Buckland School he was a Junior Prefect, member of the Phoenix Society, Leading Seaman in the Navy Section of the OTC and keen sportsman, receiving colours for Tennis.  Here his family pays tribute to him.

David, born on 26th July 1943, was a quiet man of few words.  He possessed a dry sense of humour and a strong work ethic.  Family was so important to him and a source of great joy!

Pinner was home but an unexploded bomb that lodged in the roof of the house led to evacuation to a village in the middle of Dartmoor.

Village life was spartan but it was a great place for children’s play.

David went to West Buckland School where he acquired the name ‘Joe’.  He was in the tennis and rugby teams and a member of the debating society. 

Training for Pharmacy in Portsmouth was completed alongside organising pop concerts for the students.

His pre-registration year with Boots started with a white coat, a broom and straightforward advice that a good boss should know every aspect of the job!

Time at Boots Head Office in Nottingham saw David dashing down to Torquay at the week-end to see Rosemary.  It worked!  They got married, had two children and clocked up 50 years together!

David’s first managerial appointment was in Tiverton, after which he moved to Brighton 3 weeks before Suzie was born.  Here he was a founder member of Brighton regency Round Table.

Then came the move north to work in Altrincham.  Knutsford became home where the family have lived for 46 years.  Suzie became ill and Mark was born.  Despite this chaotic start they settled happily in a great community.

Family holidays graduated from bucket and spade in Devon and Cornwall to Scotland & Majorca and then Greece.  David discovered Patmos, the Greek island that was to become our home from home.

In addition to his work for Boots in Altrincham, David was a governor at Stamford Park Junior School and became Chairman of the Governors.

To round off his Boots career, David became a District Manager based in Sale, then Regional Operations Manager based in Chester.  Retirement was 25 years ago after 37 years with Boots.  He decided to take up golf and his handicaps earned him a reputation as a ‘Bandit’.  The 19th hole was quite popular too.

David was a member of Knutsford Round Table where he found friendships and plenty of community projects to get stuck into.  Then he joined the 41 Club.

Later, joining Rotary, he enjoyed everything they did, both social and fund-raising.  He became the Club Treasurer.  David enjoyed his year as Rotary president and was proud to be made a Paul Harris Fellow.  Recently there was the Covid vaccination programme with Rotarians and David keeping traffic flowing at the centre.

He was also a member of Probus finding the more relaxed meetings and stimulating talks to his liking.

Yes, David enjoyed his working life and belonging to all the interesting groups; but at heart he was very much a family man.  He was proud of his children’s achievements and delighted to enjoy it all again with the grandchildren.  The last family day out saw granddaughter Chloe ‘nearly’ beat Grandpa at Crazy Golf!

During his recent illness David was helped enormously by the support given to the family.  Getting Rosie to the hospital meant that he had a daily dose of new chat and cheer from everyone who helped, particularly over Christmas and the new year.  A heartfelt ‘thank you’ from the Johnsons.

The last word is with 4 year old Theo.  How does a child of 4 process the loss of his grandpa?  Taking Mark by surprise Theo wanted to know if dad was going to work.  The reply was simply ‘no work today’.  ‘Oh, are you going to see grandpa?’  Mark said he couldn’t see grandpa any more as he was up in the sky.  Right away Theo came back and said, ‘O.K. he’s having tea with the Queen’.

Somehow, he made a link with the coverage of the Queen’s jubilee and funeral, and perhaps Paddington bear – leaving us with the delightful picture of David taking tea with the Queen.