Ian Christopher Johnson
Ian Christopher Johnson died April 26, 2009, at age 21, after a 14-month battle with cancer.
He was born June 14, 1987, in Winfield, Ill., to Nigel W. and Laurel B. (nee Rott) Johnson. He attended Whittier Elementary School in Wheaton and moved to White Eagle Elementary School in Naperville. His next three years were spent at Gregory Middle School and Still Middle School.
He was a 2005 graduate of Neuqua Valley High School, where he participated in football, wrestling, water polo, Robotics Club and Anime Club. He earned varsity letters in all sports, receiving All-State Honorable Mention and All-Sectional First Team awards in water polo. He served as a People to People Student Ambassador to Europe in the summer of 2003.
He enrolled at Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., for one year. He then transferred to Penn State Behrend in Erie, Pa., to study psychology and pursue his passion of water polo. While at Penn, he earned a starting position on the team. He was a member of the Penn State Behrend men's water polo team as a freshman and, in the fall of 2006, he scored 19 goals and had six assists and six steals. Five of his goals came during the Division 3 Eastern Championships held at Penn State Behrend, where the Lions placed third for the first time in school history.
He is survived by two younger brothers, Michael, a sophomore at Drake University, and Grant, a freshman at Neuqua Valley High School; father, Rudy Rott of Hales Corners; uncle, Kim Johnson of Hull, England; aunt, Vicky (Phillip) Squire of Snaith, England; cousins, Charlotte Houghton (Johnson) Nicholas Johnson, Flora, Isobel and Daisy Squire, and Oliver Houghton, all of England; and other relatives and friends.
He was preceded in death by his maternal grandmother, Mary (nee Wagner) Rott; paternal grandparents, Alick and Joan (nee Heron) Johnson; and aunt, Lorna Johnson.
Service was May 2 in Naperville, Ill. Burial was at Naperville Cemetery.
Memorials are suggested to Nigel Johnson to establish the Ian Johnson Water Polo Fund at Penn State Behrend, c/o Beidelman-Kunsch Funeral Home, 24021 W. Royal Worlington Drive, Naperville, IL 60564.
Beidelman-Kunsch Funeral Home handled the arrangements.
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