Calvin Johanson

Keizer

1925-2022

Calvin Johanson, 97, passed peacefully away on March 31, 2022, in Keizer.

He was born Feb. 2, 1925, in Astoria, to Otto and Leonide (Watson) Johanson, and was their youngest child. He lived in the Deep River, Washington, logging camp until he was 5, then moved with his family to Youngs River Road.

During his youth he participated in the life of the Youngs River Road and Miles Crossing community, trapping and skinning muskrats and mink, fishing, threshing and other farm work. Growing up during the Great Depression taught him to work hard, be ingenious and to eat what was on his plate.

Calvin graduated from the Oregon School for the Deaf in 1941. He worked for a local cabinet maker briefly, then went to work at Swan Island during World War II, helping build ships. He said, “The Germans sunk them as fast as we could build them.”

He took flying lessons from his brother, Gerald Johanson, and recalls taking off and landing on the Peter Iredale beach. He worked in heavy construction, and drove and repaired big rigs and equipment for such companies as Sunset Hauling, Perrigo Construction, Roy L. Houck Construction and WW Logging.

In 1965, Cal moved with his young family to Astoria and Warrenton to settle down, and established Cal’s Welding, a metal fabrication and repair business in Warrenton. Some years later, that became Johanson’s Little Shipyard, owned by Cal and Sally, when a cousin asked him to build a fishing boat, and this initiated a boat building career that continued for nearly 20 years, building approximately 28 boats, primarily aluminum, several of which were featured in fishing publications.

Cal spent his retirement years traveling with Sally in his own custom-modified motor homes as far north as Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, and south to Panama. He and Sally camped out for months at a time on the Baja peninsula, and then he enjoyed winters in Arizona with his partner, Thona Pierson.

Cal’s great-uncle was the founder of the Oregon School for the Deaf. Cal was co-founder of the Oregon School for the Deaf Alumni Association, president of the Oregon Association of the Deaf, president of the Northwest Recreational Club for the Deaf and a river rafting guide for deaf rafting trips on Oregon rivers.

He was active in Boy Scouts, and developed many skills through that organization, and helped plant the sequoias on Cherry Avenue in Salem. He also enjoyed participating in many World Deaf Timberfests near Stayton, from the very first event in 1981, and also enjoyed camping there, helped with many projects and donated tools and equipment.

While raising his “second” family, he was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Astoria, and served in several capacities.

Cal believed in, and exemplified, the value of hard work. If you wanted to eat, you had to work. If something was worth doing, it should be done right. He was a perfectionist at everything he did, from welding repairs on trucks to building boats to customizing motor homes to creating beautiful intarsia.

There was no mechanical problem that he could not solve, he was never “off the job,” and his mind was always busy with his current project, whether it was a fishing boat or intarsia. A master at everything to which he put his mind, Cal created dozens of intarsia carvings over the last 25 years, putting hundreds of hours into each work of art.

He designed and created many custom disability modifications to his home and shop in Keizer in order to be able to stay there, and on his feet, until his death.

Cal never let his profound deafness and leg that was severely damaged by polio stop him from doing what he wanted to do, and never used those as an excuse not to work or participate in life or to go “on the dole.” He had too much pride for that. His formal education was limited, but he read voraciously and was self-taught in many areas.

Calvin had two children, Rickey and Brenda, by his first wife, Marion Shirley, and three children, Janet, Pat and David, by his second wife, Sally Munn.

Cal is survived by his son, Rickey Johanson (Millie), of Oak Harbor, Washington; his daughter, Janet Johanson, of Keizer; his daughter, Pat Johanson, of Bend; his son, David, of Marion, Iowa; grandchildren, Wayne Fischer (Nancy Jessop, Patricia Barlow, Cecilia Jessop, Joni Cooke and Jennifer Warner), Vonnie Knudson (Glen), Taylor Thornton, Julia Steed (Melvin), Janelle Fischer (Sam Roundy), Deanne Jessop (Jacob), Jordan Johanson, Janna Johanson, Bethany Johanson, Kristina Johanson, Tabitha Johanson and Sandra Johanson; great-grandchildren, Onalee, Retta, Nicole, Ashley, Brenda, Julia, Jessica, Shaleena, Brandon, Nathan, Sandy, Steven, William, Alan, Warren, Vanessa, Jacob, Loretta, Rachel, Amber, Alysha, Cody, Erica, Sabrina, Tessa, Shayontae Brenda, Sally, Spencer, Ephraim, Jacob, Brenda, Wayne, Brenda, Wendell, Levi, Leroy and Lyle; and great-great-grandchildren, Jaizy Meadow, Brenna and Miguel.

Calvin was preceded in death by his parents, Otto and Leonide (Watson) Johanson; siblings, Herbert, Gerald, Emmeline and Nancy; his first wife, Marion; his daughter, Brenda; his son-in-law, Greg Harrison; grandchildren, Ted, Ben and Kate Harrison; great-granddaughter, Veronica Fischer; and his partner, Thona Pierson.

His paternal grandparents were Peter Johanson and Anna Wasankari, Finnish immigrants who homesteaded in Olney. His mother, Leonide, daughter of Fred Watson and Angele Gilbert, was the granddaughter of Alexandre and Emma Gilbert, who immigrated from France.

Cal was the last living great-grandchild of Alexandre and Emma Gilbert. Alexandre was a Seaside mayor, business owner (tavern, real estate) and builder and owner of the Gilbert Inn and Gilbert Block in Seaside. Cal had direct memories of them. His immigrant history is a history shared by many in Clatsop County.

At his request, no service will be held. Donations in his memory may be made to Camp Taloali.