Malcolm Davis "Dave" Johnson (1944-2024)

 

Dave died March 30 in Rutland, VT after a brief illness, as reported here in Dave's obituary.

 

Nassau Herald

Memories and Tributes

Carl Feldbaum:

I got to know Dave a bit though Cannon, he was a quiet, modest guy, but looking back--it was primarily through our playing Squash regularly over our Junior and Senior years. I don't recall how we got started. We both had played some tennis, but I'd never laid eyes on a squash court until I saw those in the basement of Dillon Gym. It might have been the same for Dave, but I could be mistaken.
 
We bought rackets, (excuse me, racquets) a couple of (hard) balls, learned the rules-plus I recall that we watched a few real players play the game. 
 
For the uninitiated, Squash games are played in a pretty tight space, and competitive games can easily get reckless with body contact and one or both players getting hit by a racket or a ball in the back which registers as an owwie! and can leave a week-long welt. I'm not saying that squash is a particularly dangerous sport.
 
My point about Dave is that in an estimated highly completive 80 games over those two years, he never had even an "accident" of that sort. His athletic toughness was always accompanied with decency and the sheer quality of sportsmanship. 
 
After graduation, we were never again in touch. His recent passing made me recall that I played squash for another 40 years, almost always Dave's way.
 

Chuck Oman (added May 30, 2024):

Dave was a childhood friend – his father Mal and my Dad were ’34 roommates and lifelong friends. We lived in different towns, but four of us would go to Polo Grounds to watch Willie Mays and the Giants play - Dave always brought his baseball glove. After the Giants left town, he became a Mets lifer. He was a star student and athlete at Bronxville High. Dave and I reconnected at PU during the fall Freshman year. We both wanted to do engineering and spent late nights grinding in the E-Quad libe or empty classrooms. I recall it  was Dave who told me that JFK had been shot. Soph year Vito and I teamed up with Tommy Hanks on an Aero engineering project – Dave figured out how to mount a huge canvas sail-wing atop an old jeep. Tom and I hung on for dear life while Dave drove us at terrifying speeds down the Forrestal runway. Dave was a fierce competitor, but always a real gentleman off the court. He was a straight ahead guy who always lived in the now. Eventually he decided to pursue law rather than engineering.  Unfortunately we lost touch after graduation. Dave’s father had served on a Destroyer at Okinawa, and thereafter happily raised a large family, played lots of tennis and been a successful lawyer. Hardly surprising that Dave ably followed in his footsteps.

 

Krist Jake:

At Princeton Dave was a Cannon clubmate with a thoughtful outlook and low-key demeanor. Then we went off to war, a disruption for all. 
 
My service was similar to his as outlined in the obit, so I just became aware we probably crossed paths in the Gulf of Tonkin, South China Sea, and possibly Olongapo and the Med.
 
But that was then. I don’t recall any contact with Dave after graduation or even hearing of it from others. 
 
He was a good man.

 

Bill Mitchell:

Dave was one of my roommates at Princeton for a year - a great guy!! We lost contact after graduation but I’ve always had great memories of our time together. Dave was a grinder, always working really hard to stay on top of studies. I was from the West Coast and couldn’t get home for holidays and I remember wonderful memories with Dave and his family in Bronxville.

 

Bob Nahas:

I echo the well-deserved compliments you have been getting regarding how much you do not only with announcements of classmates deaths. As with the others, I got to know Dave a little over 60 years ago when we both joined Cannon. I recall him as a strong, athletic guy, not boisterous and with a ready smile. Always good for short, friendly conversation. I don't recall any contact with him since graduation.

 

Turk Thacher:

Like the others below, I got to know Dave pretty well through Cannon - he was a great guy with a wonderful sense of humor and a constant smile. He had a funny way of talking out of the side of his mouth, for which I bugged him constantly. He came to a few early reunions and then seemed to lose touch with the class. A genuine good guy!

 

Ron Van Buskirk:

As I mentioned we were treated like family by Dave and his family at Thanksgiving every year. Touch football in the front yard at their home. Being an engineer he built the bar for the living room in our suite. It had a surface that shown like glass and was hard as rock. He loved Cannon.

Additional Memories or Photos

If you have additional photos or memories that you wish to share, please send them to the '66 Memorial Team (66_MemorialTeam@tiger1966.org). We will add them to this page.