Ken Johnson, longtime Hoquiam businessman and Daily World Citizen of the Year in 2005, died Tuesday at home after a brief illness. He was 83. His wife Marlene survives him at the family home in Hoquiam.

Johnson was involved in many volunteer efforts, including Loggers Playday. In September, Johnson’s son Robert, “feeling it might be the last Loggers Playday dad would be able to participate in” decided to come from his home in Phoenix, Ariz, to spend the weekend with his parents.

“I hadn’t been in the house 10 minutes,” Robert said, “when we were out the door, helping to set things up. It was a hot day and I kind of chewed out the younger guys, telling them they needed to take over and give dad a rest.”

“You know your dad,” they said, “He wants to do everything.”

And that seems to have been his mantra his entire life. The list of organizations he belonged to and groups he volunteered for is long indeed — Lions, Elks, Masons, Shriners and VFW. He led the Hoquiam School District’s M&O levy campaigns for more than 20 years and was successful in every election. He’s a member of the Grizzly Alumni Hall of Fame and is a past recipient of the Boss of the Year award presented by Grays Harbor Association of Insurance Women.

He was often mistaken for former Major League ballplayer, Lite Beer pitchman and Milwaukee Brewer announcer Bob Uecker. The family remembers a trip years ago when they were invited to sit in one of the suites for a Mariners-Brewers game. Coming down the elevator after the game, Brewer fans mobbed the Johnson family, wanting a chance to get close to who they thought was Uecker.

Another time, on one of his many golf vacations in Hawaii, a man demanded (Uecker’s) autograph and wouldn’t take no for an answer. After telling the persistent fellow several times that he wasn’t Uecker, Johnson finally grabbed a piece of paper and wrote,” Tastes great, less filling.”

Johnson attended Aberdeen schools, graduated from Weatherwax High School in 1951 and served as a military police officer with the U.S. Army. In 1958, he married Hoquiamite Marlene Durney, attended the University of Washington and earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He began working for a major insurance company in Seattle.

In 1964, Marlene’s brother, Bob Durney Jr., was killed in a car accident, and the Johnsons moved to Hoquiam to work at Durney Insurance. Ken continued working at the firm until about two years ago when they sold the business.

Before their move, they had no intention of coming back to Grays Harbor but once they got here “we decided we liked the community, and it was a good place for raising kids,” Johnson said many years ago. “It was good for us.”

In addition to his wife and son, he is survived by a daughter, Linda, who lives in Asheboro, N.C.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 5, at Immanuel Baptist Church in Hoquiam followed by a wake at the Hoquiam Elks Lodge. Arrangements are by Coleman Mortuary in Hoquiam.

The family suggests memorial donations to the Strong Kids Campaign at the Grays Harbor YMCA or Harbors Home Health and Hospice.