Doug was born July 1, 1940 in Flandreau, SD to Clyde and Evelyn (Dahl) Johnson. He attended Flandreau Public Schools until he graduated in 1958. He worked for Terrace Park Dairy until he joined the US Coast Guard in 1960. He served 4 years with two of those years in Alaska. He completed the remainder of his service in Minneapolis as a recruiter. Doug married Dottie Schult on December 28, 1963 in Flandreau, SD. To this union a son, Jay, was born. Doug worked for Prudential Life Insurance Company in Minneapolis, MN and later worked as a Vice President of Minnesota Home Builders Association. He worked with local home builders, negotiated carpenter's salaries with unions and organized the annual Parade of Homes and numerous award programs. In 1971 they purchased the White Birch Resort in Blackduck, MN and later built and sold homes in the area. Once Dottie's father, Bill Schult, passed they decided to buy the family farm 13 miles North of Flandreau. They farmed for 25 years until retiring to Brookings in 2003.
Those who shared his life and will deeply miss him include his wife, Dottie of Brookings; son, Jay and wife, BilliJo; precious grandson, Nicholas all of Brookings; brother, Craig Johnson and wife Lavonne of Spearfish, SD; brothers-in-law, Vernon Schult and Ed Anderson; sister-in-law, Deanna; plus many nieces and nephews and a special Coast Guard buddy, Jay LaBonte of Massachusetts. Doug was preceded in death by his parents, Clyde and Evelyn Johnson; his wife's parents, Bill and Mae Schult and a grand-niece, Katie.