A well-known business administrator at the North Sanpete School District has retired after working for the district 33 years.
Darin Johansen was honored for his decades of service at a retirement party on Dec. 14.
According to a district spokesperson, “Darin has truly blessed our district with his dedication, knowledge, work ethic, business finance savvy, friendship and sense of humor. He has always looked out for the best interest of NSSD students, staff and patrons. We are grateful for the positive impact he has had in our district, and we will miss him.”
Darin was born in Mt. Pleasant, where his parents owned a farm and his dad taught school at North Sanpete High. Darin moved to the Provo-Orem area when he was a young boy, but he spent his summers and many weekends back on the farm in Sanpete.
He graduated from BYU in accounting and took a job with a CPA firm in Salt Lake City. One of his clients at the firm was the Moroni Feed Company.
After working in Salt Lake for about five years, a job at the North Sanpete School District opened up, Darin said. “I figured my older brother would apply for it since he and his family were in Blanding and wanted to get closer to the rest of the family, but he and his wife ‘had a feeling’ that I should be the one to apply,” he said.
After landing the job, Darin met his wife, Lori; she was fresh off her mission and working as a teacher, he said.
They have five children, three boys and two girls, all of whom have graduated from North Sanpete High School, North Sanpete Middle School and Spring City Elementary.
The highlights of his career involved the people he’s worked with. “I don’t know if any other organization (at least non-religious) is as loaded with as many quality people as education, especially our school district,” he said.
Carrying out many structural improvements were also milestones during his tenure. “During my time, we have built replacements for three elementary schools,” Darin said. “We have made some pretty significant additions/improvements on our other schools, built a new district office, a new bus garage, not to mention other building projects like tennis courts, a softball complex, etc.”
Most of those projects have involved bond elections, issuing bonds and working with architects, contractors and other administrators. “We have also had numerous overhauls on our accounting systems, insurance plans and other employee benefits,” he said. “Not to mention a ton of new programs and grants that have added to the fun.”
There were many challenges along the way, including one time when Moroni Elementary was severely damaged by a fire in November 1992. There were a lot of headaches involved with the insurance settlement, asset replacement and temporary arrangements for the students, he said.
During retirement, Darin and his wife plan to continue living in their hometown of Spring City while he stays productive.
