Per Kristian Johnsen

Per Kristian Johnsen (1944-2024)
Per was born in northern Norway in the winter of 1944 to Einar and Klara Johnsen. Klara, a widow with two children, and Einar, her young tenant, fell in love and started a family together. Per's parents were both athletic, adventurous and industrious. Legend has it that Klara rode her bike to the hospital through occupied Bodo to give birth to Per. After the war, the family lived in Bodo, Ornes and Namsos and had a canning business. Per grew up loving maps, ships, trivia and ski jumping. As a boy, he learned to knit, darn and cook lefse on his grandparents' farm in Storvik where he often spent school breaks with his grandmother, Petra.
When Per was thirteen, his family sailed to New York, traveled across the United States, and settled in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle. What was intended as a short stay lasted twenty years. They started Johnsen's Scandinavian Foods and Norway Knits, Ballard institutions for over a half a century. In Ballard, Per worked in his parents' store, competed in track, excelled in academics and met lifelong friends George Zander, Gordon Strand, Tom and Gayle Robinson, Kathy Meyers Sparks, Colleen O'Brien, Gary and Cecelia Bloxham, Dennis Murphy, Janet Jacobsen, Emily Stipek, Sandi and Rich Tomlinson and Ross Wood.
Per also met the love of his life, Sandy (Sandra Rae Williams), at Ballard High School in his ninth grade French class. Sandy knew Per was special when he fit right in with her big Williams family. The high school sweethearts both went to the University of Washington where Per studied psychology and Sandy studied education. A large group of Ballard High School friends kept a continuous game of bridge going while at the U, switching out hands when someone had to go to class. While attending the U, Per was hit by a run-away ski when skiing at Snoqualmie Pass; and suffered a broken leg. His injury not only gave him access to the best parking spots on campus; but quite possibly saved his life as he failed his physical and was spared from being drafted into the Vietnam War. In 1966 Per and Sandy were married at the Northminster Presbyterian Church in Ballard, attended by 150 friends and family. Per realized the United States was becoming his home and became a US citizen in the same year. They moved to a scenic apartment on Lake Washington as Per worked on his Ph. D in psychology and Sandy started her teaching career. Per loved to recount tales of punch card computer programming and late nights running rat maze experiments to his daughters later in life.
Per and Sandy had their first child, Kristianna Mari, in 1970 and moved their small family to Green Bay, Wisconsin. Per started as a professor of Psychology in the Urban Studies Department at the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay, a young, interdisciplinary department combining city planning and social sciences. In Green Bay, Per found great cross-country skiing conditions on the UWGB golf courses and in the nearby reforestation camp. He and a group of friends developed a system of trails and ski races for the Green Bay community. A long-time racer, he was in the first Birkebeiner ski marathon in northern Wisconsin and competed in over thirty "Birkies", his last in 2022. The former track athlete also picked up a love of running in the early seventies. Per's family soon found a growing like-minded community and started meeting every Wednesday evening for family fun runs and potlucks. Through his work at UWGB, Per was able to spend two sabbatical years in Norway where he collaborated with INBY, a Norwegian firm specializing in urban planning and site design. His family cherished those special years away from it all and loved the growing connection they all shared with their Norwegian family and heritage.
Per and Sandy welcomed their second child, Randi Rachel, born in Green Bay, Wisconsin in 1976. The family of four traveled often to visit grandparents Ben and Rachel in Washington and Einar and Klara who had moved back to Larvik, Norway. They spent family vacations camping, skiing and biking together and created many happy memories with their friends Cheri and Joe Hoida, Joan Robb, Joe Manino and the crew at the local ski and bike shop, Wheels and Boards. Per was a calm motivator, always with a few hard candies in his pocket to encourage his kids up the hill. His family can still picture him there, waiting with gentle words of encouragement and providing inspiration to tackle the next hurdle, whatever it may be. Per helped many friends and family train for their first marathon or 10K, taught them how to ski, knit, bake bread, find the best wild huckleberries, draw portraits or carve wood. His gentle mentorship will be cherished.
Per and his family moved back to the Seattle area in 1990 to design and build their dream house next door to Sandy's parents in South Colby. They soon found a new cross-country racing community at Kongsberger Ski Club back at Snoqualmie Pass. Per worked at UW Extension and Kitsap Transit as the Human Resources Director until retirement in 2007. After retiring, Per started training even more seriously for ski racing and raced at the elite level into his seventies. Per and Sandy traveled back to Norway every summer to return to his grandmother's farm and enjoyed memorable trips to Italy, kayak trips in British Columbia, bike trips, swimming, camping and skiing with their friends in Wisconsin, visiting their grandkids in Victoria BC and San Francisco and making the most of their very active retirement.
Per was active and living with Lewy Body Dementia with Parkinsonism for the last few years of his life. Sandy took care of Per in their Port Orchard home as his symptoms progressed. He continued to love the gym, going out to lunch with friends, walks in the woods and visits from his family, even after his mobility became limited. He delighted in reminding his family "You better get your speeches ready" for his eightieth birthday party just a few months ago.
Per will always be remembered for his gentleness, intelligence, egalitarian spirit and graceful athleticism. Per was the best husband, Pappa, Bestefar and friend; and he will be missed every day. His memory will live on in the hearts of all those who loved him.
Per was preceded in death by parents Einar and Klara; and brother Kjell. He is survived by wife Sandra Johnsen, daughters Randi and Kristianna Johnsen, sister Turid Nygaard, sons-in-law Greg Rotter and Chris Ransom, grandchildren Frey Jumonville and Yago and Ovidia Rotter, sister- and brother - in-law Jill Williams and Richard Thyman, nieces and nephews Jon Ernst, Jan Tore Nygaard, Marius Wulfsberg, Berenike Munthe Wulfsberg and Hallvard Johnsen, uncle Tore Johnsen and many wonderful cousins.
A memorial reception will be held at the National Nordic Museum in Seattle after a private family ceremony. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Bay Nordic Ski Club of Green Bay, (Attn: Brian Knapp, Treasurer, PO Box 11072, Green Bay, WI 54307), the Seattle Opera at https://www.seattleopera.org/donate/, the University of Washington Psychology Diversity Fund at https://www.washington.edu/giving/make-a-gift/?page=funds...; or the Brain Center of Green Bay at https://www.braincentergb.org/donate, in Per's honor.