Richard M. “Dick” Johnson, 79, passed away on Tuesday, August 1, 2017 after a brief illness. Dick was born on October 2, 1937 in Hastings, Nebraska, 45 minutes prior to his younger twin brother Bob. His family moved to the Bay Area when he was five years old and he graduated from El Cerrito High School.

Dick loved his work and his family. He began working as a young man for Bay City Excavators in a variety of positions before starting his own company Cal-Neva Excavators in 1983. Dick had a working relationship with Sunset View Cemetery Association of more than 50 years. He graded the land on which the current Mortuary/Cemetery Administration building is built in the early 1960’s and continued building roads, installing storm drains, installing lawn crypt burial vaults, paving parking lots, and many other projects until his death. He touched the hearts and lives of the Sunset View employees he worked with these many years.

He had a keen sense of humor and loved to tell people that he was the only person who had dug his own grave. A compassionate man, Dick was known to lend people money, give you his time, or purchase materials if you needed help on a project. Dick enjoyed classic cars and boats and could be seen driving around El Cerrito in his Red 1940 Ford Coupe or on Lake Tahoe in his 1959 Chris Craft Runabout wooden boat. Mr. Johnson was a member of St. Jerome Catholic Church in El Cerrito.

He is survived by his wife Helen; daughter, Glenda (Tim) Rau; son, Richard (Tyson) A. Johnson; brother, Robert (Jacqueline) Johnson; sister, Sandra Kemp; 10 grandchildren; and 4 great- grandchildren. He was preceded in death by daughters, Sheri Armstrong and Julie Acosta; and sisters, Marilyn Blackwood and Shirley Longacre.

Visitation will be held on Monday, August 7, 2017 from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. at the Sunset View Mortuary Chapel with the Rosary at 7 p.m. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, August 8, 2017 at St. Jerome Catholic Church with the Committal to follow at Sunset View Cemetery. In lieu of flowers the family requests that memorial contributions be made in Dicks name to Oakland Children’s Hospital – www.childrenshospitaloakland.org. Arrangements are by Sunset View Mortuary.