Dennis L. Johnson, 83, formerly of Mt. Airy, an architect and planner who maintained a practice in Chestnut Hill for 30 years, died Aug. 13 at St. Mary’s Hospital in Duluth, Minn.
Mr. Johnson retired in 2005 as a principal of Johnson/Smith Architects, a firm whose projects included new buildings, alterations and additions, libraries, public buildings, apartments, adaptive re-use of existing structures, commercial projects, apartments for the elderly or developmentally disabled, and church projects.
Among them were the Haverford Free Library, the redesign of the Barker Building in Germantown into apartments for the elderly and the adaptive re-use of many buildings along Germantown Avenue in Mt. Airy and Germantown.
Earlier Mr. Johnson had been a partner at the architectural firm of Oskar Stonorov, where he designed many buildings in the Philadelphia area including Charlestown School in Chester County, Southwark, Plaza Public Housing, the first Computer Center at Penn State University, and the Northwest Regional Library in Germantown.
In retirement, he and his wife, LaVonne, divided their time between the Bucktown Crossing retirement community in South Coventry Township and a lake home near Grand Rapids, Minn., designed by Mr. Johnson and built by him with the help of his family over a 20 year period.
Mr. Johnson had served on many nonprofit and community organizations, and had been president of both Sedgwick Neighbors and East Mt. Airy Neighbors. He had been the founder and president of EMAN Group Homes Inc. and the Mt. Airy Express newspaper, and served on the Mt. Airy Village Development Corporation. He founded the Friends of the Northwest Regional Library, and served for seven years as president of Carson Valley School in Flourtown.
Mr. Johnson received the “Volunteer of the Year” award in 1977 from WCAU Radio, the “Viking of the Year” award from the Leif Ericsson Society, the Edgar Baker Community Service award from East Mt Airy Neighbors, and the Amandus Johnson Award from the American Swedish Historical Museum.
Born in Fairmont, Minn., he was a graduate of West High School in Minneapolis and received a B.A. in architecture from the University of Minnesota in 1954. He served for two years in the Army Corps of Engineers, and then returned to the university for a Bachelor of Architecture degree.
Mr. Johnson came to Philadelphia in 1958 for graduate study at the University of Pennsylvania where he received master’s degrees in both architecture and city planning.
Interested in Swedish genealogy, he was a founder of the Swedish-American Genealogist magazine. He served several terms on the boards of the American Swedish Historical Museum, the Swedish Colonial Society, and was president of Leif Ericson Viking Ship Inc.
He enjoyed flying, classical music, politics, and designing and building his own furniture.
In addition to his wife of 61 years, he is survived by sons Eric, of Pottstown, Randall, of Grapevine, Tex, Jeffrey, of Chalfont, and James, of Ambler; a daughter Denise, of Royersford; 15 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sep.17, 2016 at Augustus Lutheran Church, 717 W. Main St., Trappe, PA 19426. Friends may call from 10 to 10:45 a.m, Saturday at the church. Memorial donations can be made to the church, c/o Elevator Fund. – WF
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