Peter Thomas Johnson ’54
Peter Thomas Johnson ’54 passed away on February 9, 2014, in Boise, Idaho. Peter came to Dartmouth from Boise Senior High School. He was a brother of Theta Delta Chi and graduated from the Amos Tuck School of Business. After graduating he served as a contracting officer at the Air Force Flight Test Center in southern California. After discharge from the Air Force Peter went to work for MacGregor Triangle Co., a firm active in contract logging, heavy and highway construction and ranching. In 1968 he joined Trus Joist Corp., which marketed a line of structural wood products. He was elected president of Trus Joint in 1970 and chief executive officer in 1975. In 1981 President Reagan appointed him as administrator of the Bonneville Power Administration, where he served until 1986. The agency sold power from 31 federal dams to more then 8 million residents throughout the Pacific Northwest. It is said that his leadership “saved the agency from financial ruin and kept power rates low.” After leaving the agency he moved to McCall, Idaho, where he started the Payette Lake Water Quality Council. He served on the Bogus Basin Board and the Children’s Home Society board and cofounded the Idaho Community Foundation. The Peter T. Johnson Wildlife Management Unit, which includes 60,000 acres of state lands, was named in his honor. Peter is survived by his wife, Carolyn, and daughters Linda ’76, Laura, Lee Ann and Lisa.
