Geoffrey R. Johnson

Geoffrey R. Johnson passed away on July 26, 2016 in Santa Barbara surrounded by his loving family. He was born in Braddock Pennsylvania June 30, 1936 the only child of Milburn and Anna Rose Johnson. He attended Wilkinsburg High School and graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with honors. Directly out of college North American Aviation hired him to work in the simulation laboratory. He developed software for flight testing of early space programs. He knew many of the test pilots that flew the X-15 and other newly developed planes. At NAA he met his future wife, Patricia. They were married in 1960. He worked at Raytheon in Orange County until moving to Santa Barbara in 1969. Jeff and fellow co-workers, Bob Danford and John Foondle founded Acroamatics in Santa Barbara in 1971. Originally located in what is now known as the Funk Zone. This company is still in existence after 45 years. Aside from his family he loved backpacking and travel, especially Australia and Hawaii. He would recite poetry with just a bit of encouragement and often could be found humming classical music. He shared his love of Reading, literature, theatre and the outdoors with his wife, children and grandchildren. Geoffrey inspired all of us and enriched our lives.

He is survived by his four children, Michael (Patrice) of Chico, Kristin (Brian) of Vandenberg, Marc (Wendy), and Kevin (Tina) of Portland Oregon. He was extremely proud of his nine grandchildren, Rye, Mackenzie, Nicole, Kevin, Charlotte, Zoe, Tyler, Griffin and Christopher. Recently there have been four new great grandchildren.

There will be a celebration of his life on Saturday September 10th at the Chapel at Santa Barbara Cemetery 11:00 AM with a reception at the family home following the service for friends and family from 12:00 – 3:00 PM.