Michael S. Johnson was born in 1926 in Maryville, Missouri to Greek immigrant parents. His interest in the oil business began when his family moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1931, then called the Oil Capital of The World. He graduated from The Ohio State University with a B.Sc. degree (1947) and a M.S. degree (1949), both in Geology.

In 1950, he was drafted to serve in the Korean War and was transferred in June of 1951 to assist with research in the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project (AFSWP) headquartered at the Pentagon

.Following his service, he began what would become a six-decade long and illustrious career as a geologist within the Rocky Mountain Region. He spent his first nine years with The Amerada Petroleum Corporation, eventually attaining the position of district geologist for the Wyoming District in Casper. In 1958, he became the Rocky Mountain Exploration Manager for Apache Oil Corporation in Denver, Colorado. In 1963, he began his career as an independent petroleum geologist and resided in Denver concentrating his exploration efforts in the Williston Basin.

Throughout his career, he was involved in numerous oil-field discoveries in North Dakota, Montana, Colorado, Wyoming, and Kansas. However, his landmark achievement was the discovery of Parshall Field in North Dakota. Today, Parshall is one of the largest oil fields in size in North America.

In 2009, for his contributions to the Parshall discovery, he received the Explorer of the Year Award from The American Association of Petroleum Geologists.

Mr. Johnson served on the Archdiocesan Council from 1979 to 1997 and was on the Board of Trustees for the FAITH Endowment and Leadership 100. He became a member of the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle, the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarch in 1979. In 2018, he was honored with the Oxi Day Foundation's Jaharis Service Award for his courage and service during the Korean War and continued philanthropy to the Hellenic-American community. In 2022, Michael and his beloved wife Katherine Johnson and Family, gifted the Chapel of Saint Basil the Great to Assumption of the Theotokos Cathedral of Denver, Colorado.

A dedicated, loving husband and father, Mr. Johnson lived in Denver with his wife of blessed memory, Katherine. They have two children, Alicia and Mark (Judy), two grandchildren and one great-grandchild. 

Mr. Johnson was known for his ingenuity, intelligence, endless generosity, philanthropy and passionate support of the Greek-American community and other charitable causes. His notable commitment to education and helping young people remains a shining example to us all. 

He will be missed greatly, but his legacy of values, positive impact, as well as his exuding kindness and generosity of spirit will live on through his family and the multitude of lives he touched through his generosity, ingenuity, and vision to make the world a better place. Along with being an esteemed leader in his industry and community, he was a dedicated and loving family man and a wonderful friend and inspiration to all who had the privilege of meeting him. 

The funeral service will be held 10:00AM on Thursday, October 1st at the Chapel of St. Basil at Assumption of the Theotokos Greek Orthodox Cathedral (4610 E Alameda Ave., Denver, CO 80246) with the Visitation the Wednesday evening prior.

Our prayers and thoughts are with his family. May his blessed memory be eternal.