Barbara Bassler Johnson, a longtime resident of Malibu, died Nov. 29 after a short illness. Johnson was the daughter of Malibu pioneers John and Margaret Bassler who settled here in the ’40s.
Johnson was a native Californian and a graduate of Santa Monica High School. After graduation, she served proudly in the U.S. Navy during World War II and attained the rank of storekeeper first class. Not long after the end of the war, she married Charles “Chuck” Johnson of Steubenville, Ohio, and they subsequently lived in many places across the country, including Hawaii and Virginia, while he completed a 30-year career in the Navy. After his retirement from the Navy in 1968, Barbara and Chuck became permanent residents of Malibu.
Barbara Johnson will be remembered for the boundless cheerfulness and compassion that characterized her life and the constant goodwill that she shared throughout our community. As a longtime assistant to Malibu lawyer Jim Biava, a member of First Church of Christ, Scientist in Malibu, and as a frequent habitant of Coogie’s Beach Caf, she touched many lives and will be sorely missed.
Barbara is survived by her husband, her son, Chris, and grandson Daniel of Oakton, Va., and her brother, Jim, of San Pedro.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to the Veterans of Foreign Wars or the United Services Organization.