Don Johnstone

Donald "Don" Johnstone Senior lived at 80 South Hill Street, Thunder Bay, for many years. He was an early adopter and reseller of computers in the mid-1990s to Ron Currie.

Early Life

Don's father was Archibald Johnstone, who served for many years as a grain inspector for the federal government in Port Arthur.

Don had five siblings:

• James Bell (Jim) Johnstone (30 August 1926 - September 28 2007), resided most of his adult life in Kenora, Ontario, worked for 37 years with the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), in most recent years as a passenger train conductor. [1]
  • Jacquie, a daughter, living in Winnipeg as of 2007)
• Bruce Johnstone (1931 - 2 December 2002) [2], served with the Thunder Bay police department for more than 30 years, including several years as an assistant chief and head of detectives.
• Richard Johnstone (1939 - 19 September 2009) of Abbotsford [3], a millwright with Great Lakes Paper (Bowater) in Thunder Bay
• Grace May Giesbrecht (30 May 1934 - 3 April 2017) (aged 82) [4] (married Dan (1931-2015) [5]), of Chilliwack, B.C.
• Jean Lightfoot (John) of British Columbia. Possibly still alive as of 2026

He married a woman called Martha.

According to Nancy Greenwald, Don had three kids:

• Dr. Shawn Johnstone
• Jan Johnstone (3 May 1968 - 10 December 2011). Died at Health Science North Facility, Sudbury. [4]
• Renee Jasmine Johnstone, Kinesiologist, published research at Lakehead in 1995, and who worked at Nipissing University from 2019 to at least 2024.

In the 1990s his children practiced the bagpipes in his backyard.

Sources

[1] JOHNSTONE, Jan Gordon Jan was born in Thunder Bay, Ontario on May 3, 1968. Jan died suddenly on Sunday, December 10, 2011 [6].

[2]

James Bell (Jim) Johnstone died in a Winnipeg hospital on Friday, September 28 following a lengthy illness, at the age of 81. He was born and raised in Port Arthur (now Thunder Bay) Ontario, the son of Archibald Johnstone, who served for many years as a grain inspector for the federal government. Jim, who resided most of his adult life in Kenora, Ontario, worked for 37 years with the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), in most recent years as a passenger train conductor. He served briefly in the Canadian Army during the latter months of World War II but was discharged when it was discovered that he was under age. He is survived by a daughter, Jacquie, who resides in Winnipeg, and four brothers and sisters, including a brother Donald, who resides in Thunder Bay. The others are Richard Johnstone and Jean Lightfoot, who reside in Abbotsford, B.C. , and Grace Giesbrecht, of Chilliwack, B.C. A young brother, Bruce Johnstone, who died in 2002, served with the Thunder Bay police department for more than 30 years, including several years as an assistant chief and head of detectives."

- 30 Sep 2007

[3] Knee torque kinetics during highland dancing / Renee Jasmine Johnstone. . Johnstone, Renee Jasmine. (1995). (Lakehead University) [7]

Johnstone, R.J., & Bauer, T. (1993). Lower extremity misalignment and kinetics in highland dancing. Unpublished manuscript, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada

[4] https://www.legacy.com/ca/obituaries/theglobeandmail/name/jan-johnstone-obituary?id=41523361 "JOHNSTONE, Jan Gordon Jan was born in Thunder Bay, Ontario on May 3, 1968. Jan died suddenly on Sunday, December 10, 2011 at the Health Science North Facility, Sudbury. A planned Celebration of Jan's life will be announced at a future date."

Note: she is NOT the same Jan Johnstone that married a Gordon and was chairwoman of the Bluewater District School Board in December 2011, and later ran for office as NDP [8], but probably not since she was running for office as of 2022 [9], because she was still around Kincardine in 2022 running for office.