WINDHAM – Ralph Johnston, a longtime Windham resident, politician and avid environmentalist, died last week at the age of 92.

Johnston, who ran three times for the Maine Legislature, including a campaign last year, was active in the Windham Veterans Association and worked for decades on water quality issues on Highland Lake in Windham.

For his efforts on the lake, the Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program in 2011 awarded Johnston a lake protection award for 35 years of stewardship.

Friend and fellow Highland Lake water tester, Keith Williams, said Johnston was an inspiration, and that Johnston leaves a legacy of a healthy Highland Lake.

“He was very much aware, at least back to 1970s about the time of the first Clean Water Act and the formation of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,” Williams said.

Johnston and others regularly tested Highland Lake, and no matter the weather or his age, Johnston was always game to go out and conduct experiments, Williams said. During winter experiments, Williams said, temperatures got so cold the water and testing reagent would freeze in the test tubes.

“So Ralph is dedicated,” Williams said. “He was doing it for family, friends, so that they could have a lake that they could swim, boat, enjoy the water quality, the beauty of the lake, and not just the top of the lake, but the beautiful water so you could see into the water column and see your feet.”

Dedication was a theme of Johnston’s life, said longtime friend and fellow Windham resident, Don Swander. The two served in the Windham Veterans of Foreign Wars Post and were active politically. Johnston – who became a Democrat in recent years – helped Swander during his failed Republican bid for the State House in 2004.

Swander said about 85 people attended a celebration of life ceremony at the Windham Veterans Center on Monday in honor of Johnston, a World War II veteran who served as an arc welder in the Aleutian Islands. He brought those welding skills home after the war, working for many years at Hews Co. in South Portland.

“It was a beautiful ceremony,” Swander said. “It was just amazing how many people got up to talk about him. It had to be over 20 people. Both Republicans and Democrats, that didn’t matter.

“And everybody pretty much had the same theme that Ralph was a very dedicated person to the principles and ideals that he believed in. And if he believed in it, then he believed in it with everything that he had. He just put passion into everything he did.”

Even in his final hours last Friday, March 29, lying in a bed at Maine Medical Center, Johnston showed the passion that defined his life. Former state Rep. Mark Bryant, who represented District 110 for eight years and was a longtime friend of Johnston’s, was at his bedside with former state Sen. Bill Diamond, on Friday morning. Johnston made a lasting impression.

“Bill and I went in on Friday morning,” Bryant said. “His daughter, Gayle, woke him up but he couldn’t speak any longer, so he raised up in the bed with his arms up in victory, and acknowledged us that way, and then he settled back down and went right back to sleep. So it was quite amazing and it was quite moving.”

Bryant said Johnston suffered from ALS and didn’t eat after being admitted to the hospital about a week earlier. To the last moment, Bryant said Johnston, though weak, “was sharp. He knew exactly what was going on. But his body just left him.”

The 2012 campaign was an experience Johnston described as “once in a lifetime.” State Rep. Denise Harlow of Portland acted as Johnston’s campaign coordinator during his bid, which he lost to fellow longtime Windham resident Tom Tyler. Harlow said she would drive Johnston door-to-door so he could meet voters. Despite his age and his many duties and responsibilities beyond the political campaign, Harlow said she never heard Johnston complain about anything.

“He was awesome,” she said. “I don’t think I ever drove him the night or in the afternoon when he hadn’t already had a full day. I would say to him, ‘Well, what did you do today?’ The answer was never, ‘Well, I sat around and rested because I had a long day yesterday.’ He would have either had a meeting, or been out on the water, working on his dock or raking the beach. He was always busy.”

One time when driving Johnston’s Chevy Blazer, Harlow backed up a long driveway straight into a tree. Johnston never got angry.

“When I hit it, I was apologetic and said, ‘Ralph, I’m so sorry,’” she said. “You’d expect him to have some sort of response like, ‘Well, let’s get out and see the damage.’ But he said, ‘Eh, it has strong bumpers, don’t worry about it.’ And he was not even a little bit worried about it. He never even flinched.”

At the next house on their rounds that evening, while Johnston approached the door with no thought to the bumper, Harlow got out and inspected the rear of the Johnston’s vehicle.

“It was OK. He was right, the bumper was strong,” she said, laughing.

The episode illustrated for Harlow what kind of man she had met.

“He would do anything for anyone,” she said. “Right up until his last days. And you were inspired by him when he was in the hospital. You’d go there really sad and maybe even crying, and you’d leave and think, how can I be crying when this man is showing so much strength. And it was just who he was. It wasn’t different from any other time you saw him. He was just a good person.”

Another longtime friend, Roger Timmons, who was elected commander of the Windham VFW last year, knew Johnston for decades. For the past 15 years, Johnston played a key role at the Windham VFW, serving as the post’s quartermaster in charge of finances.

Timmons said Johnston was in charge of collecting and disbursing funds, receiving the annual membership dues, providing trustees with reports, maintaining a relief fund, and making sure the post complied with all state and national VFW association regulations.

“He was a hard worker, and dedicated to whatever he did. And we’re going to miss him,” Timmons said.

In recent years, Johnston, never shy of a challenge, had to learn how to use a computer to digitally perform his quartermaster duties.

“And he did very well at it,” Timmons said. “Ralph got so that he could do everything after a regular meeting and report to national right through the computer.”

Last June, Johnston earned an all-state award recognizing his outstanding quartermaster work. He was given a white cap, instead of the usual blue that VFW post members wear, signifying the award. His dedication to the Windham VFW was known throughout the state, as well, Timmons said.

“I had to talk to the state [association] today and asked about a few things and talked to the state quartermaster and he said Ralph always kept on top of everything, even at the age he was at, he always kept on top of everything” Timmons said Tuesday. “We appreciated that so much.”

Ralph Johnston, right, received an award in 2011 from Steve Williams, executive director of the Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program, for his 35-plus years of water quality testing in Highland Lake in Windham. Johnston died last week at the age of 92.
Courtesy photos
Tom Bannen, left, Keith Williams, middle, and Ralph Johnston, right, braved all kinds of weather to test water quality on Highland Lake in Windham.