Support Teresa in the wake of Butch's passing

Hello everyone, We've launched this page to support and fundraise for a very special person, Teresa Johnson in the midst of her husband, Butch Johnson’s sudden and unexpected passing.

Those of you who know The Johnsons, may be aware that Butch had been diagnosed and was living with Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (a type of blood cancer) relatively asymptomatically for quite a number of years. However, in recent years it has needed more aggressive treatment and Teresa has been by Butch’s side for every appointment, treatment, and trial.

Over the last few months Butch had become more symptomatic and was undergoing additional treatment to keep the cancer at bay. However, during the middle of May, Butch’s symptoms progressed and began to greatly impact his daily life. Butch’s spleen became severely enlarged and he had to undergo a splenectomy this past week. His recovery appeared uneventful at first, but became complicated by his lymphocytic leukemia and in the early hours of Saturday May 25th, Butch suffered a stroke, and in the following days it proved too much to recover from. Teresa shared that Butch, her best friend and partner in life of 16 years, passed away late in the evening of May 27th 2024.

Teresa has been by his side, night and day since he began having symptoms, and since he entered the hospital. Between appointments, chemotherapy treatments, surgeries and long hospital stays, Teresa’s ability to work has been significantly impacted. There are bills, medical expenses, end of life expenses and business expenses that Teresa is responsible for. Teresa urgently needs support to navigate this while she grieves.

Teresa’s entire life is being upended and drastically changing. This is a devastating loss. Anyone who knows Teresa and Butch, is aware of how much they loved each other, and that they each have hearts of gold. Many people, in the archery community, in their local community, in the photography community and beyond have reached out to ask how they can support Teresa.

While Teresa is a fiercely strong, resilient and capable person, she knows that she needs help and support during this time.

Please consider donating to the Johnson family; both to support Teresa, and to honor Butch’s beautiful life and legacy. All donations will be going toward bills and expenses associated with the time that Teresa needs immediately to grieve and manage end of life preparations for Butch, until Butch’s estate is managed. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and for considering supporting Teresa during this time.

For those of you who know Teresa but may not have had the immense pleasure of knowing Butch:

Butch Johnson was a five-time Olympian, Gold and Bronze Olympic medalist, and a prominent leader and permanent fixture in the archery world. He was an extremely well respected member of the archery community for decades, both as a fierce competitor, and a successful coach. Butch stayed current in the sport and community, continuing to coach students, and practice and maintain his own skills in the archery range that he had in the home he shared with his loving wife Teresa; the home that he constructed with his father many years ago.

Butch was not only an Olympian and storied archer with many championship titles, but also a most loving and devoted husband and father, master craftsman, devoted cat lover, a wonderful wedding support and photographer with Teresa, world traveler and always a calm yet playful presence. Butch was such a champion for his wife and was by her side as she navigated a grueling battle with breast cancer and double mastectomy during an already challenging pandemic.

His devotion to his wife, family, and sport speaks readily to the type of person that Butch was - steady, unyielding, pragmatic, dedicated, kind and always quick witted. Butch will be sorely missed, but we are certain that his legacy will be dearly honored by many. We are asking you to honor him in giving to support his family in their grief.