E. Marvin Johnson
November 18, 1924 - August 16, 2020
Obituary
E. Marvin (Marv) Johnson died peacefully on August 16. He was born to Evald and Hannah Johnson, Norwegian immigrants, in Tacoma on November 18, 1924, the youngest of eight children. He graduated from Stadium High School in 1942 and served in the United States Navy achieving Airman 2nd Class, from 1942-1946. He attended Pacific Lutheran College on the G.I. Bill, where he met the love of his life, Virginia Isvick. They married on August 21, 1948 and were as in love throughout their 67-year marriage as the first day they met. After graduating from PLC in 1950, Marv began his long and distinguished career as an educator. He taught at Fife and Milton Elementary Schools from 1950-1966. In 1966 he served as Principal and Lead Teacher at the newly opened Mountain View School and later was Principal at Edgemont School. In 1968 he moved to the Federal Way School District where he served as Principal of Steel Lake, Star Lake and Lake Dolloff Schools until his retirement in 1983. Following his retirement, he served as an interim Principal in the Sumner School District and as an Adjunct Professor of Education for Eastern Washington University. He was a long-time member of Mountain View Lutheran Church in Edgewood. He is preceded in death by his wife Virginia. He is survived by his five children, Scott Johnson (Claudia), Marti Jensen, Sharman Keely (Skip), Marshall Johnson (Shawn Shree’), and James Johnson (Jennifer Katz); eight grandchildren, and seven great grandchildren. Bonney Watson in Federal Way is handling the arrangements and has posted a Remembrance Page on its website. A celebration of his life will be held at Mountain View Lutheran Church, sometime in the future, as COVID-19 restrictions are eased. His cremated remains will be placed with his wife, Virginia, at Tahoma National Cemetery.
I enjoyed working with Marv and his great faculty at Lake Dolloff Elementary School in Federal Way. He was a dedicated principal with a sense of humor and was confident in his direction.
Marv was a wonderful principal at Lake Dolloff Elementary. All 3 of my children had him as a principal. I volunteered at that school one day a week for 11 years. One of the things that impressed me the most about Marv was when I would arrive at the school and he’d be out at the busses, meeting all the children as they got off of the bus — by name. He knew the name of every child in that school over the years.