James H. Johnston

James H. (Jim) Johnston of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, passed away peacefully in his home, surrounded by loving family, on the morning of October 24, 2023. Jim had celebrated his 88th birthday and 53rd wedding anniversary with his wife Susan just days before. In the months before his death, Jim frequently said, “I am the luckiest man I know.” Jim was born on October 20, 1935 in Los Angeles, CA, to parents Joe and Eileen Johnston. Jim and his younger brother, Brian, spent their youth in Laurel Canyon, CA. Eileen later married Bob Bassing, who embraced the boys as his own. In 1949, Bob, Eileen, Brian, and Jim moved to Ajijic, Mexico. In 1953, Jim returned to the United States to finish high school at the Oakwood School in Poughkeepsie, New York. Jim went on to Haverford College for three years, and then completed his Bachelors at the New School for Social Research in New York City, in 1958. He received his Masters in English from the University of Florida at Gainesville. While at Haverford, Jim met Hilda Enos, who was attending Bryn Mawr College. They married and lived in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, and Crete. Throughout these years, Jim worked as an English teacher, journalist, carpenter, and aspiring novelist. In Berkeley and New York, Jim worked as a welfare worker, including as a labor organizer during the Welfare Workers’ Strike of New York City in early 1965. In April of 1965, Hilda gave birth to their son, Andrew. Jim and Hilda eventually split up, and he moved to Italy. To make ends meet, he began acting in Rome and Positano. Jim relocated to New York City to pursue an acting career. He performed in numerous off-Broadway plays, television shows, and commercials. He also worked in the New York City Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Program, where he met Susan Spachner in 1968. Jim and Susan married in 1970 and had a daughter, Tracy, in 1972. They moved up the Hudson River Valley to Garrison, NY. Jim continued to travel to New York City for acting jobs, but he became increasingly interested in home design, eventually becoming an independent distributor for Lindal Cedar Homes. As the President of Atlantic Custom Homes, he took great delight in forming relationships with clients and custom designing homes to suit their needs and tastes. He designed more than 300 homes for families in the U.S. and abroad, including the Caribbean, which he flew to many times in his beloved ‘58 Comanche airplane. Jim was a highly successful businessman who won numerous awards, including as the national and worldwide top-performing Lindal distributor for many years. His hobbies during these years included flying and caring for his airplane, playing tennis, running, horseback riding, scuba diving, and traveling. After Jim and Susan retired, they moved to Holliston, MA, near Boston, where Tracy and her husband, Sam Zager were living. Jim finally had the time to pursue his life-long love of music, and he studied music theory, learned to read sheet music, and learned to play the piano in his 70s. He joined the New Sound Assembly barbershop chorus, singing competitively throughout New England. In 2011, Jim, Susan, Sam, and Tracy relocated to southern Maine. Jim and Susan bought their dream home in Cape Elizabeth, where they loved looking at the ocean, swimming at Kettle Cove throughout the beach season, birdwatching, playing tennis, and spending time with their grandchildren. Jim joined the Downeasters barbershop chorus when he moved to Maine, and he spent countless joyful hours singing with them and working on his music. Jim often said, “I’m a happy man.” He had a remarkable, loving marriage with Susan, was close to his brother Brian and stepfather Bob, and felt so proud of his children and their life partners–Andy and Gina, and Tracy and Sam–and all their beautiful children. Jim lived every day to the fullest. His friends and family members will miss his comedic timing, storytelling, singing, intelligence, curiosity, life-long desire to learn new things, adventurous spirit, and immense love, but they know he lives on in them, and will carry him forward in their memories and lives. Jim is survived by his wife and best friend, Susan Johnston; his stepfather Bob Bassing; his brother and sister-in-law Dr. Brian Johnston and Susan Bunton; his children Andrew and Gina Johnston and Tracy and Sam Zager; and his nine grandchildren: Daphne, Soare, Maya, Sorina, Tao, Luna, Quinn, Ashley, and Shaman. A celebration of Jim’s life and scattering of ashes will be held in the spring of 2024, with details to follow. The medical care Jim received greatly improved his quality of life, right to the end. Therefore, in lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate donations to Hospice of Southern Maine.

James H. Johnston

October 20, 1935 - October 24, 2023