James J. Johnston, age 81, of Pine Island, MN, died on Tuesday, December 24, 2019 at his residence.

He was born on April 18, 1938 at Saint Mary's Hospital. He attended Rochester High School and then served in the United States Navy from 1955-1959. After he served, he worked at Gopher Aviation at the Rochester Airport for 12 years. He then worked for Mayo Clinic at the Rochester Methodist Hospital and St. Mary's Hospital as a department head for thirty years.

James married Marlene Gilbertson and was later divorced. In 1989, he married Janet Bayerl Schroeder and moved to Pine Island, MN. Jim enjoyed his time with family and always said, "family first". He liked a good challenge and tried many things in life including buying, selling, and repairing antique farm tractors, fly fishing, archery, taxidermy, and flying remote control airplanes. After retiring, Jim and Janet spent their winters in Florida where they had many friends.

James is survived by his wife, Janet of 30 years; sons, Steven of Oronoco, MN and Kevin of Rochester, MN; daughter, Leanne (Kevin) Bartlett of Bridgeport WV; step-daughters, Stacy (Rob) Warneke of Pine Island, MN and Kristen (Tom) Mueller of Utica, MN; step-son, Chad (Malea) Schroeder of Oronoco, MN; grandchildren, Joe, Samantha, Dustin, Keith, Andrew, Kailee, Colton, Austin, Ben, Eliza, Will, Sam, Seth, Caleb; four great-grandchildren; sisters, Marlene Brand and Carol Pederson, and brothers, Ronald and Edward (Jerry).

He was preceded in death by his mother, Adele Johnston.

The Funeral Mass for James Johnston will be at 1:00 p.m. on Monday, December 30, 2019 at Pax Christi Catholic Church in Rochester, MN with Father Will Thompson officiating. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service. Burial will take place after the service at St. Margaret's Catholic Cemetery in Mantorville, MN.

Memorials are preferred to cancer research.