Obituary of Nathan Woods Johnston

Georgia, VT/Lake Wales, FL

Nathan “Nate” Woods Johnston, 73, died unexpectedly on February 22, 2018 in Lake Wales, Florida.

Nate was born on July 5, 1944 in St. Johnsbury, VT. He graduated from St. Johnsbury Trade School in 1962. During his service in the U.S. Army most of his active duty was in Germany.  He enjoyed a 26 year career at IBM as an Engineer Technician which enabled early retirement in 1995. After retiring, he worked in maintenance at the Northwestern Medical Center.

Nate was accomplished at using his hands, incredible at stretching the value of a dollar, and took great pride in his work.  He loved tinkering on anything he could get his hands on from gardening to fixing his cars to building his house to designing and building the infamous camper/truck!  He was creative and always thought outside the box for unorthodox solutions.

Nate was very social, quick witted, and enjoyed making his friends laugh.  He loved his winters in Lake Wales, FL and looked forward to his return trips to Vermont where he worked with his dear friend, Carroll Towne, producing maple syrup on the Towne and Roberts Family Farm.

He loved spending his Vermont summers playing golf with buddies Peter Callan, Bob Langdeau, and Neal Pollard at the Links in Essex. Nate loved his Lord and was an enthusiastic member of the St. Albans Bay United Methodist Church. It also pleased him to deliver meals for the Georgia Meals on Wheels program. 

Nate was very proud of his children and grandchildren. He was present for the birth of each grandchild and attended all of their graduations.

Nate is survived by his wife, Judith Towne Johnston of Georgia, VT; his children, Caroline (Farid) Badri of Mountville, PA, John Johnston (Joanne Feeley) of Georgia, VT, Michell Johnston Langlais of Colchester, VT; his grandchildren Youssef and Miriam Badri, Julie and Jason Johnston, Connor and Stephanie Langlais; his siblings, Richard Johnston of Windham, NH, Robert (Inez) Johnston of Waterford, VT, and Genevieve Paula Lewis of South Burlington, VT; his father-in-law, Carroll Towne, and in-laws, Caffy (Dennis) Roberts, Timothy (Perla) Towne, Christopher (Rosanne) Towne, Annie (John) Desranleau, Mary (Raymond) Hepburn, Matthew (Donna) Towne, John (Rachel) Towne, and many cousins, nieces, and nephews. He is preceded in death by his parents, John and Genevieve Johnston, of St. Johnsbury, VT, his mother-in-law, Nina Towne, his brother Stephen Johnston of St. Albans, VT, his sister-in-law, Doris Sweet Johnston, and his first wife, the mother of his children, Hildegard Sacherer Johnston originally from Hohentauern, Austria.

The family would like to thank his friends at Lake Wales for their love and support throughout the years and recent health events.

Visiting hours will be on Friday, March 9, 2018 from 4 to 7 pm at Minor’s Funeral Home, Route 7, Milton, VT.  Service and Celebration of Life is scheduled for Saturday, March 10, 2018 at 11 am. at the Georgia United Methodist Church, 50 Carpenter Hill Road, Georgia, VT with Pastor Hyung-Kyu Yi officiating.  All are welcome. Interment will be held at a later date. 

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Georgia Meals on Wheels (MOW, 3897 Ethan Allen Highway, St. Albans, VT 05478 Memo Line: Center Market) or Georgia United Methodist Church (GUMC, 50 Carpenter Hill Road, Georgia, VT 05478 Memo Line: Parsonage Upkeep).