Obituary of Richard Johnston

Richard Lyle âDickâ Johnston, 64, of Kings Road, Morgantown (Cheat Lake), passed away Thursday, January 26, 2012 at Kindred Hospital of Oakdale, PA after an extended illness.Richard was born in Washington on February 20, 1947, the son of the late Harry Lyle Johnston and the late Lenora (Toben) Johnston.Survivors include his wife of more than 40 years, Patricia Mae âPJâ Smith Johnston his to daughters, Amy Schmitz and her husband Cory of High Ridge, MO and Meredith Brydges of Morgantown and three grandchildren, Lyle and Tricia Schmitz and Joey Brydges.He received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Education from West Virginia University, and his Masterâs Degree in Criminal Justice Administration from the University of Louisville.Dick was an accomplished federal agent with the US Treasury Departmentâs Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) in Louisville, KY. During his career with the ATF, he served as an Operations Officer in Detroit, Special Agent in Charge in San Jose, CA where his first investigation involved the bombing of the Councilwoman Diane Feinsteinâs condominium, and also as Organized Crime Coordinator in Louisville. He also served as the Director of the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), where he oversaw the economic and cyber crime training and support of officers in more than 1,000 law enforcement agencies nationwide. Within hours of the September 11, 2001 attacks, Dick was instrumental in partnering with the Federal Bureau of Investigations, where he converted NW3Câs on-line consumer fraud complaint center into an international tip center for terrorist leads. Within days, the center took over 165,000 tips for investigation by the FBI, earning it the Excellence.gov award for innovative electronic initiatives.In the private sector, he served as a financial advisor, and Deputy Director of the Louisville-Jefferson County, KY Crime Commission. Additionally, he was an adjunct faculty member of the Southern Police Institute at the University of Louisville, and director the of the Drug Enforcement Training Program at the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services.Dick was an active member of Chestnut Ridge Community Church in Cheat Lake where he served on the Board of Directors. He was a loving husband, father and grandfather with a wonderful sense of humor and will be sorely missed by all who knew him.Dickâs family is honoring his wishes for cremation to take place.A celebration of his life will be held at Chestnut Ridge Community Church in Cheat Lake, on Saturday, Feb. 4th at 2 PM with Pastor Tim Haring officiating. The family will be at the church to receive friends one hour prior to the service from 1-2 PM, and following the service when a reception will be held at the church. Interment will take place privately at Beverly Hills Memorial Gardens, Westover.In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions may be made in Dickâs memory to the National Foundation for Cancer Research. You may do so by visiting their website at nfcr.org and selecting Esophageal Cancer Research.Hastings Funeral Home of Morgantown is in charge of the arrangements.