Obituary of Stephen Frederick Johnston

JOHNSTON Stephen Frederick Age 83 Of North St. Paul, formerly of White Bear Lake Beloved Father, Grandfather, Great-Grandfather and Brother Passed away unexpectedly October 8, 2021 Stephen “Steve” was born March 12, 1938 in Bozeman, MT to Roger L Johnston and Fannie A (Bohart) Johnston. His school years were spent in Tacoma, WA attending McKinley Elementary (K-2), Portland, OR at Sunnyside Elementary (3), Fernwood Elementary (4-8) and US Grant High School (9-12). He attended Reed College for 4 years majoring in Chemistry and 2 years at the U of MN where he received a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering Degree. He worked the summer of 1960 at 3M in the Magnetic Products Division and returned in 1962 to the Magnetic Products Division. In 1986 he transferred to 3M Pharmaceuticals where he was part of the team working on the nitroglycerin patch. He took an early retirement after 30 yrs at 3M in 1992. He met Barbara A Meuleners on a blind date in November 1964 and they married on August 14, 1965. Jason Matthew was born 1/28/67 and Jolie Michelle was born 7/26/69. He was an avid golfer for almost 50 years and served on the board for the Tartan Park Men’s Golf Club and 3M Men’s League. He also enjoyed bowling for 25 years. But his real passion was live theater. He acted in 40 shows (DeMolay, Reed College, Edith Bush Theater and Lakeshore Players) between 1962-1974 with one last performance in 1986. He was a board member at Lakeshore Players for 23 years. He was a resident of White Bear Lake from 1957 until 2018 when he moved to Echo Ridge Senior Living in Oakdale with Barbara. After Barbara passed away January 9, 2020 he moved to Polar Ridge Senior Living in North St Paul. Survived by; children Jason, Jolie (Dean) Joy; grandchildren Jenna (Travis) Greenwold, Joshua, Jamie, Leighton, Shelby; great-grandchildren Nora, Bentley, Claire, Giovanna; & sister Nancy (Peter) Erben. Celebration of Life Saturday, October 30 at 12:00 PM at Mt Bethel United Methodist Church, 3239 70th Street East, Inver Grove Heights, MN 55076, with visitation one hour prior to service. Luncheon to follow. Service will be live streamed at www.facebook.com/MtBethelUMChurch/ Private Family Interment Lakeview Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Lakeshore Players Theatre in memory of Stephen Johnston. Sandberg Funeral Home & Cremation Services 651-777-2600 Sandbergfuneralhome.com