Ancel was born on October 30, 1929 to Luther and Anna (Waage) Johnson near Langford, South Dakota. He was the fifth of eight children. Although he grew up during the Depression and the Dust Bowl, he believed he lived a life of abundance. He looked back fondly on the times he spent hunting and trapping in the woods and creeks of the farmlands. He also told stories about his hard work on the farm and especially enjoyed times with the horse team of Babe and Tootsie. After graduating from Langford High School, Ancel joined the Army Air Force in 1947 and served for 4 years. He trained as a weatherman and was proud of his role supporting the Berlin Airlift. While in Germany he took advantage of opportunities to hunt, downhill ski, cross-country ski, and travel to Rome, Paris, and Norway.

Ancel attended South Dakota State University and graduated in 1955. Shortly after graduation he and Barbara Jean Kurtz married. She was his wife of 64 years. They moved to Ames, Iowa where Ancel obtained a Master’s Degree at Iowa State University and they began their life adventures together. Ancel’s career as a wildlife biologist took the family from Arizona to Montana and Colorado, then to Washington State, and finally to Alaska. Ancel was a true naturalist. He loved learning, observing, and sharing his knowledge of the natural world. He served as an expert on PhD committees for students who came to Alaska to study sea otters. He also attended international treaty negotiations in Japan, Russia, Canada, and Norway as one of the scientific experts in the U.S. delegations. Over the course of his career he was able to take Barbara with him when he traveled to Japan and Norway. They also spent time together out into the field while he was collecting data. They frequently laughed about times they spent in Prince William Sound, Alaska when it got so cold their boots were frozen to the floor of the cabin in the mornings in the winter and times in the summer at Olsen Bay when one of the Stellar’s Jays would knock on the window in the morning asking for waffles.

The Ancel and Barbara and their six children spent many summer vacations and weekends camping and exploring the outdoors. The family especially enjoyed time on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State - hiking the beach, collecting shells, searching for agates, hiking in the Hoh Rainforest, and sitting by the campfire in the evening. An avid hunter, Ancel shared this with his sons Lynn and Lee. Many early mornings were spent in duck blinds along the Skootnai River and the small lakes of eastern Washington. The family also spent time on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska, where Ancel and Barbara built a cabin with the help of their children. Many grandchildren played in the sandpile and hiked cranberry hill at Crooked Tree cabin.

When Ancel retired, he and Barbara traveled around the United States visiting children who were spread from Washington to Tennessee. They regularly attended the NCAA Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon, sharing this experience with their children in recent years. During their retirement years they spent three winters in Bozeman, Montana watching their grandson Jason play basketball at Montana State University. After that, they frequently spent winters in the southwest and summers in Alaska before settling down for a year in Albuquerque and a year in Tennessee. Looking back over his life, it truly was a life of abundance.

Barbara preceded Ancel in death in 2019. Ancel is survived by his children - Elizabeth Bunn, Colleen Johnson, Lynn Johnson, Lee Johnson, Sandra Hoeft, and Lorri Johnson - 11 grandchildren, and soon to be 10 greatgrandchildren.

At Ancel’s request no services will be held. Ancel will be dearly missed and his love of the natural world lives on in those who loved him.