Robert Laurence (Laurie) Johnston, 90, passed away peacefully on February 17, 2026, in Vancouver. 

Laurie was fun-loving, curious and passionate about so many things. How do you capture 90 years so well lived? For a traditional tribute, that also serves as a sleep aid, please scroll down. 

For everyone else, here are Laurie’s Top Ten:

1.  Sheila and “the girls”
2.  Family far and wide  (BC, Ontario, Nova Scotia, Australia)
3.  Great friends, old and new
4.  Great neighbours, old and new
5.  Gillies Bay, Texada Island 
6.  Travel adventures 
7.  Cycling
8.  Single malt scotch… and talking about single malt scotch
9.  Scottish country dancing and music
10. Gidgit, Glen and their canine predecessors

Laurie was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on April 9, 1935, one of three sons. His mother Evelyn Annie (nee Dryden) was a violinist with the Winnipeg Symphony and homemaker, his father Edgar Palmer (Ed) manufactured and sold footwear, and his dear older brothers were Pal and Murray.

His family relocated to Ontario when he was an infant, and lived in several towns in southern Ontario. In his late teens he moved with his parents to North Vancouver, and attended University of British Columbia where earned Bachelor and Masters degrees in Commerce and met the love of his life, Sheila (nee Jarvis). 

While working on his Masters degree he attended a talk about the university’s first computer, sparking a life-long interest in mathematics and how numbers behave in the digital realm. 

Laurie and Sheila married shortly after they both graduated from UBC in 1961, moving to Cleveland, Ohio where Laurie studied mathematics, earning a PhD at Case Institute of Technology. During their time in Cleveland they became parents, welcoming Mandy and later Megan.

After graduation, they moved to Victoria, B.C., welcoming a third daughter, Sara, before settling in North York, Ont., where Laurie began teaching Computer Science at University of Toronto and where they made lifelong friendships with neighbours and university colleagues.

The family took the opportunity to explore Europe when Laurie did a sabbatical year in Manchester, England and Dundee, Scotland; and later South America, when Laurie spent six months in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the Canadian International Development Agency. 

The family relocated to Vancouver in the 1980s and Laurie taught at UBC. He eventually left academia to start consulting, focussing on database programming – work that he continued to do into his eighties. In Vancouver, Laurie and Sheila joined the Delta Borderers Scottish Country Dancing group, where they made great friends.

Travel remained a passion through Laurie’s life. Visiting every continent except Antarctica. He and Sheila travelled many times to Europe and South America, and adventures at home in Canada, including travelling to Haida Gwaii and rafting in the Yukon. After Sheila passed away, Laurie continued to travel, completing four coastal walking trails in the U.K. with Mandy and son-in-law Rob, canal trips in France and trips to Turkey and Greece with friends, a tour of eastern Europe with Meg and Sara. In his seventies and eighties, Rob was his frequent travel companion, eight more adventure trips…one of which was whiskey focused. Picture the small Scottish island of Islay, eight distilleries and two bicycles!

Laurie also loved time spent with family and friends on Texada Island and was especially proud of completing the new timber-frame home in Gillies Bay that was Sheila’s dream. He welcomed so many friends and family there over the years. It was his special place, where he felt close to Sheila. And where he will rest. 

Laurie was predeceased by Sheila, his brothers Murray and Pal, and is survived by daughters  Amanda (Rob), Megan and Sara; sisters-in-law Joan, Diane, and Helen and nieces and nephews Janice, Jenny, Cathy, Gordon, Martha, Catherine, Chris, Dan, and Laura and their families.