Family, friends will remember man at top of the mountain

Fort Collins - Monte Johnson said he'll never overcome the image of his father, Donald, lying at the bottom of the mountain, where he had fallen some 40 or 50 feet to his death last week.

But another image is just as powerful: Donald Johnson at the top of the mountain.

"He looked like he was on top of the world," Monte Johnson said.

Friends, family and colleagues remembered the Colorado State University animal sciences professor Thursday as a man who loved the outdoors. The same outdoors that claimed his life when he lost his footing while hiking at Horsetooth Rock on June 29.

Donald Johnson had climbed several of the state's 14,000-foot-plus mountain peaks and had just recently hiked at the Grand Canyon.

Howard Nornes, a former CSU professor and friend, couldn't quite find the right words to describe his buddy. So he brought a prop to the memorial service held at Trinity Lutheran Church in Fort Collins: a bicycle helmet.

The 67-year-old who rode his bike four miles to work every day in rain, snow or shine. He was committed to the environment and battling injustice. He researched global warming, drove a hybrid and worked with Habitat for Humanity. His research on greenhouse emissions was internationally known.

In private, Donald Johnson overcame extreme suffering, Monte Johnson said. The father of three and grandfather of six lost his mother at an early age. At 13, he left home to work.

He hardly spoke of his suffering, but sometimes he'd burst into tears.

Monte Johnson said that his father was reserved and detached when he and his siblings were growing up, but he evolved.

"He conquered bitterness and fear," Monte Johnson said. "He was like fine wine, he got better with age."

The man who would tie his shoelaces when they broke climbed and clawed to overcome his pain, and he never lost his extreme love of natural beauty, especially the mountains.

"When you look up at the Front Range and think of my dad's death," Monte Johnson said, "remember him at the top of that mountain."