Peter Lloyd Johnston, 1975-2014
Peter Lloyd Johnston passed away unexpectedly from a rock-climbing accident on June 2, 2014. He was 38.
He was born on June 29, 1975, in the San Diego area. Raised in Poway, along with his two older sisters, Peter graduated from high school in 1993. He attended Vanguard University in Costa Mesa where he met his future wife, Jennifer Cannon.
Peter graduated in 1997 with a degree in Pastoral Care and Counseling and a minor in Business. Peter held his first pastoral position at Safe Harbor Church in Tustin while also working with children in a group home setting. This is where he met 5-year-old Mark, the special boy who would later become Peter and Jennifer’s son.
Peter and Jennifer were married in 1997. In 2000, they moved to Desert Hot Springs where Peter was instrumental in starting a group home for boys, Father’s Heart Ranch, which continues to serve children to this day. It was there his love for the fatherless began to flourish. After their son Alex was born in 2003, Peter and Jennifer moved to the mountains where Peter became Worship Pastor at The Lighthouse Church in Mammoth Lakes. During that time, Peter entrepreneured a business called Mammoth Front Desk, and worked alongside his father to promote and franchise that dream.
For a time he also worked as the Town Tax Collector and the Administrative Pastor of The Lighthouse Church. This is where their son, Aaron, was born in 2007. In 2009, the family moved to Kapa’au, Hawaii, where they continued to pursue new ministry and business opportunities. Their long-awaited daughter, Alyma Joy, was born in Hawaii in 2009. Leaving the islands in November of 2010, they later settled in Jennifer’s hometown of Redding, where Peter’s family still resides.
He is survived by his wife and four children, his mother and father, two sisters, and many nieces and nephews.
There was a celebration of life at The Lighthouse Church on Thurs., June 26, at 2 p.m. in Mammoth Lakes. A memorial fund has been established for Peter’s family through Bethel Church, where gifts may be sent to this address: 933 College View Drive, Redding, CA 96003. Checks should be made payable to Bethel Church noting the code BR321PJ in the memo.
