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LAWRENCE HARALDUR JOHNSON
Born: Aug 24, 1950
Date of Passing: Sep 17, 2025
Send Flowers to the Family Offer Condolences or MemoryLAWRENCE HARALDUR JOHNSON
It is with great sadness, but also pride at having known him, and relief at witnessing the end of his illness, that we announce the death (cancer) of Lawrence Johnson, beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother, scientist; cherished friend to many, and sworn enemy of lanthanides, the so-called “transition metals”, which he found ‘boring’ and railed against on more than one occasion, including on his death-bed during his otherwise serene and tender final hours.
Despite the course of his illness, his final days were filled with visits from friends and family, laughter, and short lectures (delivered by him) on a number of historical and scientific subjects. On what he knew to be his final day, he still checked next week’s weather forecast, with the same avid curiosity as always. He died as he lived, with good humour and great wisdom.
His passing leaves behind his beloved wife of 53 years Brenda; sons Galen and Evan; daughter-in-law Bronwyn; grandchildren Henry and Sam; sisters Barbara and Margaret (his brother Robert died in 2018); brothers-in-law Bert and Ed; and innumerable friends and colleagues.
Born in 1950 in Medicine Hat, Alberta and raised in Ralston by mother Hope (née Large), a self-taught paleontologist, and father Olafur, a defence department meteorologist, he got his first job at sixteen at the Ralston army base, stacking TNT for explosives trials before moving to Medicine Hat for high school, where he met his future wife Brenda (née McCormick), grew his hair long, joined a band, and started a radio station.
He studied chemistry at the University of Lethbridge, where he won the gold medal in that subject, before moving to Montreal (McGill) for a graduate degree in fluid mechanics, which he abandoned to work at Atomic Energy of Canada Limited in Pinawa, Manitoba. There, he worked for twenty years as a scientist and later department manager for nuclear waste research.
In 1999, he and Brenda and one of his two sons moved to Switzerland, where Lawrence took a job as research and development coordinator at Switzerland’s National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste (NAGRA). He authored more than 120 publications and consulted with innumerable radioactive waste research organizations.
Gifted with a seemingly insatiable curiosity about the natural world, Lawrence loved music, nature, history, travel (with Brenda), tennis (with Brenda), cooking (with Brenda), and phosphorus (no Brenda).
His family wishes to express his and their enormous gratitude to the nurses, support staff, and doctors at the Winnipeg Health Sciences Centre, and to the MAID team, for their incredible kindness, conscientiousness, and professionalism. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to a sensible charity. There will be no funeral. This obituary, such as it is, was prepared by his son Evan.
A photo biography honouring Lawrence’s life is accessible through the 'tributes' link below.
As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Oct 04, 2025
