James Christian Johnstone

James graduated with the class of 1968 from Lompoc High School. After graduating High School, he then attended Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria.

James then went on to serve in the United States Air Force for 4 years. He was stationed at McClellan Air Force Base, Sacramento California, where he met the love of his life, Sharon Myers, who was involved with the United Servicemen’s Organization (USO) at the time. While in the Air Force, James was deployed to Thailand.

After separating from the Air Force, James attended California State University, Chico, graduating with a degree in Plastic Design, which earned him the career title of Product Design and Development Engineer.

Being a hard worker throughout his life, James had many different jobs. Some, which included Memorex, where he designed the smokey colored covers for cassette tapes. While working for Comenco, he made medical water filters. Then, during his time with Worlds of Wonder, he designed G.I. Joe Laser Tag. He also had a patent for a Metal Detector while working for Fisher Development and between jobs he was a consultant through his own business of Plastic Solutions.

While always found wearing a ball cap, in James’ free time he enjoyed working in the garage on his beloved racecar. He was a member of the Sports Car Club of America. He was in the process of restoring his Triumph spitfire so that he could participate in Autocross type racing.

James captured his love for nature while dabbling in photography. He also enjoyed capturing radiance in the love of his life’s smile through many different angles.

When relaxing at home, Doctor Who and Big Bang Theory were always favorites to watch on the television. One of James’ favorite day trips was to drive to Santa Nella with Sharon just to have a bowl of split pea soup, until they learned how to make it themselves.

James found pleasure in doing charity work and donating his time to the Livermore Homeless Refuge. He was also a 30-year member with the Elks 2117 and an Envoy Member of Beta Sigma Phi.

James loved reading and was curious about the Universe and what lies on the other side.