June 17, 2026

Linn County News

Published June 17, 2026

Adam Lee Johnston, 57, passed away in his residence in Linn Valley, Kan., on June 9, 2026. Linn Valley had been Adam’s home for several years; he built a cabin by Linn Valley Lake and spent his days building, playing music, and working on various projects around the property alongside his son, Eli, with whom he shared the residence.

Adam was born on April 9, 1969 in Tokyo, Japan, to Gerald Johnston and Judy Tarwater. He grew up in Eudora, Kan., with his mother and five brothers before eventually relocating to Lawrence, Kan., to start a family. Anyone who knew Adam would describe him as a hardworking, music loving, coffee drinking country boy. He felt most at home in the calm of a small town, playing guitar on the porch with the song of cicadas and the horn of a train blowing in the distance. 

Adam maintained an unwavering curiosity in the way things worked. As a child, he enjoyed tinkering with household objects and taking them apart to understand their mechanisms. This curiosity led Adam to his love of repairing things, big and small. In his adulthood, Adam worked as the primary HVAC and maintenance engineer for the Holiday Inn and Springhill Suites Marriott in Lawrence, and eventually the Courtyard Marriott in Shawnee, Kan. In his free time, he spent as much time as possible working with his hands on a number of his own vehicles over the years. His handy nature extended beyond car repair to carpentry, electricity, home improvement, and landscaping.

Music fed Adam’s spirit; The dial on his stereo was fixed on the classic rock station, filling his home, garage, and office with Eagles, AC/DC, The Yardbirds, and Eric Clapton. Nothing compared, however, to Led Zeppelin. He dedicated himself to learning to play their music, amassing an impressive collection of band memorabilia, and imparting the sanctity of Zeppelin upon his children. His interests in music and building easily intersected; he spent a few years learning how to build guitars, which he spent hours on end strumming.

Adam is survived by his three children: Eli, Ian, and Holly Johnston; his brothers Krystopher Hylton, John Hylton, and Eric Johnston; and his stepfather, Bob Degenstein. He is preceded in death by his mother, Judy Degenstein, and his brothers Thad and Scot Johnston. He will be greatly missed.

“And as we wind on down the road

Our shadows taller than our soul

There walks a lady we all know

Who shines white light and wants to show

How everything still turns to gold

And if you listen very hard

The tune will come to you at last

When all are one, and one is all

To be a rock and not to roll”

-Led Zeppelin, “Stairway to Heaven”