Joseph Andrew "Joe" Johnston Jr.

Joseph (Joe) Andrew Johnston Jr. passed away peacefully on September 28, 2026, at the age of 90 in Carmel, Indiana.

He was born on December 2, 1935, to Joseph Andrew Johnston and Janice Loraine Johnston (née Alsup) in Detroit, Michigan. He spent his formative years in Detroit, finished high school at Portsmouth Abbey, a Catholic preparatory school in Rhode Island, and attended the University of Michigan, where he majored in English and completed master’s and doctoral degrees in Counseling Psychology. From 1956-1958, he served his country during a brief stint in the Army, writing stories about soldiers that were sent to their hometown newspapers. Perhaps most importantly, while in Ann Arbor, he met his future wife, Arlene Mary Miholancan, to whom he was married for 61 years.

In 1965, Joe moved to Columbia, Missouri to take a job at the University of Missouri. He devoted his entire 50-year career to Mizzou, where he served as a professor in the College of Education. Early in his career, he served as the counseling specialist (“brain coach”) for athletes under coach Dan Devine, ensuring that football players maintained good academic standing – the first such position among Big Eight institutions. He later founded the MU Career Information Center (later renamed the Career Center), which he directed for more than 40 years. While he made many scholarly contributions to the field of career counseling, he took the greatest pleasure in teaching and service activities, making a lasting impact on countless students and developing lifelong friendships with colleagues.

Early in his career, during summer breaks, he served as Director for the American Youth Foundation leadership camps for college students at Camp Miniwanca, on the shores of Lake Michigan. In the late 1980s, Joe and three fellow professors founded the Wakonse Foundation, an organization dedicated to supporting, promoting and sharing the excitement of college teaching. (“Wakonse” is a Lakota word meaning “to teach, to inspire”). Each May, professors from colleges and universities across the country gather for a unique “professor camp” at Camp Miniwanca. Over the years, more than 3,000 participants have attended Wakonse, building connections, sharing ideas, and becoming better teachers – a tradition that continues to this day. Joe took tremendous pride in this work, and Wakonse remains a living testament to his dedication to teaching and inspiring educators.

Joe had a love of nature and felt a deep connection to the places where he lived, worked, and vacationed. He had especially fond memories of time spent with family on Sable Island on Lower Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks of upstate New York, where he returned to reconnect with family throughout his life. His home on Green Meadows Circle in Columbia was his happy place, and he would often marvel at how fortunate he was to have such a wonderful place to call home. In his later years, he enjoyed spending time with family in Bonita Springs, Florida.

Joe was a gentleman farmer; for him, working around the house and in the yard was a true labor of love. He was forever mowing the lawn with his tractor, mending fences, working in the barn, and planting trees, trees and more trees! He loved to involve his family in his pastoral pursuits. His children have fond memories of sitting on split-rail fences, feeding apples from the apple trees to the horses, planting corn and tomatoes, and picking grapes for Mom to turn into jelly. He was endlessly dreaming up new home improvement projects and would routinely and eagerly recruit his kids to be his trusty (if not always so eager) work crew.

When it was time to relax, Joe followed in his Detroit family’s ritual of the five o’clock cocktail hour – “gin martini please!” This was a cherished time to pause, reflect on the day, and unwind. With luck, the day ended after entertaining friends at home or casually watching his beloved Detroit Tigers or St. Louis Cardinals with family.

Joe will be remembered by all who knew him as a kind, generous, humble man, who had a smile and a zest for life that were contagious. He exuded positivity and optimism and always saw the good in others. He had the rare ability to make others feel truly seen and believe that they could do anything if they tried. A devoted husband and loving brother, father and grandfather, Joe was ever present for moments large and small in his family’s lives, always available to listen, support and encourage. He left an indelible mark on so many – the family he loved, the students and colleagues he inspired, the teachers he mentored. Simply put, he made the world a better place. He will be dearly missed by all who had the good fortune to know him.

He is survived by his wife, Arlene Mary Johnston (née Miholancan); his siblings, John Peter Johnston (MaryJo), Jere Johnston (Pat), and Jane Johnston (Dan); his 4 children, Ann Louise Johnston Mustacchia (Jim), Joseph Andrew Johnston III (Ann Rose), Kevin Michael Johnston, and Sean Fitzgerald Johnston; and his 5 grandchildren, Adam Fitzpatrick Johnston, Margaret Rose Johnston, Joseph James Johnston, Elizabeth Ann (Tibbie) Mustacchia, and Sara Louise (Scout) Mustacchia.

He was preceded in death by his sisters, Sister Ann Johnston and Frances Johnston Diebboll.

A virtual memorial service and celebration of Joe’s life will take place at a later date. Details will be updated here when they are available.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial gifts be sent to one of the following:

• Joseph A. Johnston Research Award in Career Development (Joseph Johnston Research Award)
• Wakonse Foundation [Conference on Inspiring College Teaching] (https://www.wakonse.org/donate)
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Condolences may be left online for the family at: www.randallroberts.com