Obituary of Ralph Turner Johnson

Ralph Turner Johnson, 59, of Mound, Minnesota, passed away on December 16, 2017, after a hard fought battle with cancer. He was born February 21, 1958, in Brussels, Belgium to Patricia Kay (Roller) and Merle Cecil Johnson. His family moved several times, also living in Stockholm, Sweden; Geneva, Switzerland; Peoria and Tremont, IL and Bloomington, MN. In the spring of 1982, he met the love of his life, Holly Lee Etter. They were married December 21, 1991, in Bloomington, Minnesota. Ralph loved traveling all over the world. He loved muscle cars. He also loved spending his summers riding his wave runner, or boating on Lake Minnetonka. Over the years, he worked at many jobs that showed his interest in electronics. He had his own business R. T. Johnson Electronics dealing with CB’s and stereos. He repaired stereos, at Playback; installed sound and alarm systems with Muzak; repaired and installed automatic car and truck washes with Nationwide Wash Systems. After receiving his first home computer, he learned how to program on his own. He wrote programs for tasks others said couldn’t be done. In 1987, he followed his passion and took a course at Control Data Institute, learning how to work on business computer systems. Afterwards, he worked for Datatrend Technologies, ran a business of his own for a year, and worked for Evolving Solutions. In June 2004 thru December 2005, he traveled around the world teaching IBM’s Advanced POWER Virtualization program. He was part of a 3-man team that taught more than 10,000 clients, in less than two years. Ralph’s last career move was when he joined Sirius Computer Solutions, as a Sr. Power Engineer, in 2011. Working on computers was definitely his passion; he always liked solving problems that others could not, he always loved the challenge to prevail. When diagnosed with advanced colon cancer, in June of 2016, Ralph remained dedicated to his family, job and was always optimistic he would beat his cancer. He kept a positive attitude even into his last week of life. He leaves behind his wife, Holly and their son, Charles E. Johnson. He is also survived by his sister Kathy, and her husband Ray Tocci, of Millis, MA; many loving nieces and one nephew; and many friends he considered to be family. He was preceded in death by both of his parents. Ralph requested cremation and no funeral. He wanted everyone to remember him as he was. Memorials preferred to American Cancer Society or Autism Society of America.