Jesse Douglas Johnson, 22, went to join his Heavenly Father and many loved ones on Dec. 2, 2016, at Denver Children’s Hospital after his fifth open heart surgery in which he was just unable to recover from. He was born on March 9, 1994, in Fort Collins, Colo., the beloved and cherished son of Steve and Mona (Schneider) Johnson.
Jesse was an extremely amazing young man, who lived a full and incredibly happy life in his short twenty-two years down here on earth. He graduated from Ocosta High School in Westport, Wash., in 2013 and was very loved and thought of highly by the entire school. He was a current member of the People First of Weld County; and in the past, vice president of the Grays Harbor County Chapter in Washington State. He was also an athlete in the Special Olympics in which he won many gold, silver and bronze medals. His weekdays were filled with many activities at Envisions which included an art class two days a week that he absolutely loved, and being employed by their work crew program. They made an exception for him and mailed a paper pay-check, that he loved going to the bank to cash it to visit the nice “banking ladies”. He recently joined a young men’s group called the Grizzly Bears through Alternative Access on Friday afternoons. It was with this group that he walked in the Light Up The Night Parade, promoting the Toys for Tots program. He was absolutely thrilled to walk by hundreds of people that were cheering and waving at him. But probably the biggest highlight of his life was being able to meet his idol, Robert Plant the lead singer of Led Zeppelin, in 2010, through the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Jesse is survived by his loving parents, his amazing big sister, Amanda Rae Sweet, and his brother, James McCoy Johnson, who gave Jesse the honor of being a big brother. There are so very many more family and friends that loved him and that he will be watching over from above.
Jesse’s memory and spirit will forever live on in the hearts of all that knew him.
There will be a celebration of his amazing life on March 4, at Ocosta High School from 4 p.m. 7 p.m., with a balloon release at 6 p.m.
