Born: 11/12/1948
Syracuse, NY
Died: 05/28/2026
Philadelphia, PA
Details of service:
David Keith (D.K.) Johnston was born near Syracuse to Katherine Bates Johnston and Robert Johnston on November 12, 1948. He never stopped enjoying celebrating his birthday, right up until his last one, as friends gathered in his room at Stapeley Hall in Philadelphia. He died on May 28, 2026, after spending almost five years at Stapeley, where he received compassionate care through his long illness, from both the staff there and his faithful friends and weekly visitors, Jim Wilcox and Herbert Rutledge.
D.K. was a proud alumnus of Middlebury College. After graduating in 1970 with a degree in Art History, he went on to get Master’s Degrees in City Planning and Sociology from the University of Virginia. He worked for the Federal Emergency Management Administration in Charlottesville before moving to Rochester, New York, where he worked as a City Planner and Historic Preservation Officer from 1973 to 1980. During that time, he discovered his love (and talent) for rehabilitating historic houses—a passion he pursued throughout his life.
In 1980, D.K. was drawn to Philadelphia. Initially he worked for the City Office of Housing and Community Development, facilitating the rehabilitation of affordable housing. He then moved to a private firm where he worked on master plans for urban design studies as well as restoration of historic properties. But it was his work with buildings that drew him away from planning and into the field of architecture. While working with several architectural firms, he went on to get his Bachelor of Architecture degree at Drexel University in 1988.
He brought planning and architecture together in work with the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority, focusing on multifamily residential buildings, nursing homes, and community centers. Next, D.K. worked for the Philadelphia Housing Authority, where one of his more dramatic projects was overseeing the demolition of the twenty-story tall Schuylkill Falls public housing projects.
D.K. continued to enjoy acquiring and rehabilitating historic houses in several Philadelphia neighborhoods—which he usually lived in. But his love of Vermont sent him back to his beloved lakeshore house in Burlington, where he lived for several years while serving as the Zoning Administrator in Williston before returning to Philadelphia.
As well as birthday parties, D.K. threw wonderful balloon-filled New Year’s Eve parties. He supported Democratic campaigns and progressive causes. D.K. was of the generation of gay people who came to voice in the 1980s. It was also the generation ravaged by AIDS, and he lost many of his friends before HIV drugs became available. Still, he found joy and community in living in the Gayborhood and singing with the Gay Men’s Choruses of Philadelphia and Wilmington. As his friend Bill Pelle said, “He was fun-loving, but deep when he needed to be…He strove for excellence within our imperfect world.”
D.K. was predeceased by his parents and his only sibling, Richard Johnston. He is survived by his sister-in-law Susan Johnston (of Williamsburg, VA), nephew Kevin Johnston (Doha, Qatar), niece Christy Johnston (Hawaii), and three grandnieces and a grandnephew. He was also godfather to the children of Katie Day (Cambridge, MD) and Gerard Cooney (Edenton, NC), Julian and Molly Day-Cooney (of Wellington, New Zealand and Tampa, FL respectively).
