Scott Arthur Johnson 1953-2004

ENGLAND, JOHNSON

Posted By: michael (email)
Date: 8/27/2004 at 15:13:56

SCOTT ARTHUR JOHNSON OBITUARY

Scott Arthur Johnson, age 51, died Thursday, August 26, 2004 of complications from a head injury from an accidental fall at his home in Ankeny on August 21st.

Scott, the son of Warren Arthur Johnson and E. Vea England Johnson, was born on January 20, 1953 in Cedar Rapids, IA. The family later relocated to Davenport and he graduated from Davenport Central High School in 1971. Scott attended one year at Iowa State University at Ames in Electrical Engineering and he completed his Bachelor of General Studies at the University if Iowa in Iowa City in 1977, with an emphasis in geography and urban planning.

While in college, Scott became an environmental activist and formed The Citizens for Ralston Creek Action Committee, which lead to improvements over a several year period along the Ralston Creek flood plain. This was the grassroots beginning of what today has become The Iowa Citizens for Action Network, involving citizens all over the state in projects.

In his college years, Scott was also presented a position paper to the Iowa State Legislature regarding the protection of tenants’ rights. This led to the eventual passing of the Iowa Tenant/Landlord Act, which is still viable today.

With available positions in his field at a minimum upon graduation, Scott chose to work in the construction trades. He worked in the home building and restoration field with Roffman Construction in Iowa City, where, working along side numerous Amish carpenters, he learned many of the old building and restoration techniques. Scott later formed River City Builders doing home remodeling for a time.

He became a member of the Iowa City Local Carpenters Union where he gained experience in commercial and high rise concrete construction, and worked on projects such as the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics multiple additions.

In 1987 Scott accepted a position as Planning Coordinator in the Community Development Department for the City of Muscatine. He commuted for 13 years. During 6 ½ of those years, Scott served as caretaker of his father-in-law, Elmer C. Lundquist, at the Lundquist home in Iowa City.

During his career in Muscatine, Scott worked on many community development programs including neighborhood redevelopment, housing quality inspections, first time home ownership, flood relief grant administration, real estate, historic preservation, economic development, and procurement of federal funding for major reconstruction of the Muscatine Municipal Airport. He also worked on other local programs such as zoning, trends and impact analysis, and establishment of tax abatement districts. His favorite project for the City was the establishment of municipal 17 softball fields. He also was co-founder of Muscatine Branching Out, a volunteer organization for tree planting projects on municipal as well as residential properties.

Scott moved to the Des Moines area in April of 2000 and accepted a position with the Iowa Finance Authority (IFA) as Facilities Engineer. During his time at IFA, Scott developed and implemented construction and energy standards for their affordable housing programs, including single family and multi-family structures. Scott was well known across the state for his expertise in construction standards. Many of these standards have been adopted by other states. Assisting in the development and maintenance of affordable housing was Scott’s life’s mission. He was dedicated to serving low income Iowans by ensuring they had decent, safe and sanitary residences.

Scott was past president of the Iowa Chapter of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO). He had been an active member of this professional and educational organization since 1987. He was committed to issues that affected the broad membership of the organization and shared his expertise in educational and professional development to its members.

Scott married Linda A. Johnson-Lundquist, of Iowa City, on September 26, 1981. They were foster parents and, over time, had three foster daughters. They have three foster grandchildren. Linda and Scott had just built their new home in Ankeny one year ago. He is survived by his wife and both of his parents, and his four sisters, Sandra Johnson Tatge of Des Moines, Lynn Johnson Smith of Canton, OH, Susan Johnson Posner of Geneva, IL, and Julia Johnson Ryan of Minneapolis, MN.

Scott had registered for the Iowa Donor Registry on June 6, 2002 in preparation for the state law that went into effect on July 1, 2002, which allowed first person consent for people to designate their wishes of donation. He was the first person on the Iowa Registry that became available for organ donation. He was also able to provide the gift of sight through eye donation with the Iowa Lions Eye Bank.

The family will greet friends on Saturday afternoon from 3:00-6:00 pm at Dunn’s Funeral Home, 2121 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, with special sharing of memories from 5:00-6:00 pm.

Another celebration of Scott’s life will be held at the Lensing Funeral Home, 605 Kirkwood Avenue, in Iowa City on Sunday, August 29, from 4:00-8:00pm. Funeral Service will be held on Monday at 10:00 am at the Congregational United Church of Christ, 30 N. Clinton Street, Iowa City, with internment in the family plot at Memory Gardens Cemetery, 2600 Muscatine Avenue, Iowa City.

Memorials may be directed to the Iowa Donor Network [1-800-831-4131] for donor family support services such as memorial services, tree planting and grief referral; or to the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation.