David Walter Johnston

June 22, 1945 – Flin Flon, MB

August 1, 2025 – Calgary, AB

"Anything's possible if you try." Terry Fox 

With heavy hearts, we announce the passing of David Johnston on Friday, August 1, 2025. David was a wonderful husband and father, and a loving grandpa to his grandchildren and godchildren.

David will be deeply missed by Julie Johnston, his wife of 56 years; his children David Johnston of Nelson, BC and Susan Johnston (Scott Bojarski) of Vancouver, BC; his grandchildren Alba and Atticus Bojarski of Vancouver, BC; godchildren Zion and Mina Lancaster of Calgary, AB; David’s five sisters and brothers-in-law Carol (Ernie) Atchison of Calgary, AB, Gwendalynn (Cliff) Martinson of Powell River, BC, Judith (Keith) Grexton of Grandview, MB, Leslie (Reg) Cagnoni of Kelowna, BC, Donna (Gary) Rideout of Calgary, AB; as well as an abundance of nieces, nephews. David also leaves behind a much loved extended family including the Lancaster family; Young and Rice families; Terlesky family; Edwige, Olivier and Benjamin Léger (France); Peter Mmbando and family  (Tanzania).

David was an active member of the Calgary business community for many years through his life insurance company Capital Benefits Corp. and was a true pioneer in the Canadian mining industry.

As founder of Braveheart Resources (now Canadian Critical Minerals Inc.) David was a driving force behind assembling the company’s core mining assets, laying the foundation for much of the company’s current work.  He enjoyed serving as a director of the Chamber of Mines of Eastern British Columbia for 14 years. 

David was a connector, a community builder, a storyteller, and a man who knew everyone.  If you needed something, David “knew a guy.”  If you needed a laugh, he had 100.  If you needed a reminder of what generosity, humour, and authenticity looked like – you just had to be around him for five minutes. 

David volunteered with the Calgary Stampede, serving as the Chair of the First Nations Elbow River Camp (formerly Indian Events Committee) and with the Heritage Committee.  David spearheaded the Calgary Flames Ambassador’s Chuckwagon sponsorship bringing the Flames brand into rural Alberta.  Past chair of the Rotary Club of Calgary Olympic. 

His charitable ventures in Serbia included support for the Kraljevo school and medical equipment for the hospital in Cuprija. 

David’s greatest adventure was to summit Mount Kilimanjaro in 2007 with Julie where he met Peter Mmbando, his safari guide/driver and has continued to support Peter and his family of 5 children to enrich their lives and ensure the children attend school.

In 2002, David received the Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee Medal recognizing his significant contributions to his community and Canada. 

“There is always a way.”  

Special thanks to David’s Doctors Dr. Raghu Dandugula, Dr. Barry Baylis, Dr. Phil Mitchell, Dr. Johnny Chau, Dr. Patricia Tang, and the caring nurses from Palliative Home Care.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to either the Chamber of Mines of Eastern British Columbia cmebc1@gmail.com or The Terry Fox Foundation for Cancer Research https://terryfox.org/

The Celebration of Life will be held at the Carriage House Hotel and Conference Centre (9030 Macleod Tr SW) Calgary, AB on Friday, August 15, 2025.  Program will begin at 3:30 pm. Photos, memories and condolences may be shared with David’s family through www.evanjstrong.com

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