Kenneth Johnson, 57

Kenneth Alan Johnson, an attorney and investment adviser, an athlete and an elder of the Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, died on July 13 at the age of 57 of amyotrophic laterals sclerosis, which is known as A.L.S. or Lou Gehrig’s disease. He had been ill for three years.

Mr. Johnson was a corporate lawyer in Manhattan for Cahill Gordon, had been assistant general counsel for the Aquarin Water Company in Bridgeport, Conn., and was an attorney with Wiggin & Dana. In the late 1990s, he switched careers, going into equity sales at Jeffries and Co. in Manhattan, before heading the New York office of Tudor Pickering and Holt, a Houston energy investment firm.

He was born on April 15, 1959, in Syracuse, to the former Joan Schenk and Edward Johnson. His mother died when he was 4, and he was raised in Latham, N.Y., by his father and stepmother, Pearl.

He attended Shaker High School in Latham, where he starred in cross-country running. He also competed in shorter races in track meets, but distance running remained his preference. He graduated from Cornell University with a B.A. in international affairs while competing on its cross-country team. He then earned a master’s degree from the University of Michigan.

“We met at Southampton Tavern in about 1989,” Laurie Cecile Gordon, his wife, said yesterday. They had a number of things in common: Both were in share houses and both were attorneys. They quickly became a couple, spending the next few summers in a share house in Quogue, while otherwise living in Manhattan. They were married on May 7, 1993, at the Westhampton Presbyterian Church.

Four years later, the couple bought a house in Bridgehampton on Long Pond Trail, where they raised two daughters, Evan Johnson, who is now 18, and Charlotte Johnson, 14. For several years, the family maintained a residence in Manhattan, but eventually they made Bridgehampton their full-time home.

His years as a competitive runner infused a love for the sport that he never lost, his wife said. He ran in 5K races here, such as Katy’s Courage in Sag Harbor. Ms. Gordon said she would run in the races as well, but “he was a much better runner than I was.” His love of running and athletics was passed on to their daughters, and he became a coach, alongside Patricia Kab, for the Southampton Blizzards, a girls travel team, from the time his oldest daughter was 12. The team is still together.

He was also a great swimmer, and was at home in the ocean and would swim with his daughters for hours, Ms. Gordon said.

Church was also an important aspect of the family’s life,  Ms. Gordon said, as was education, and their older daughter graduated from Pierson High School second in her class.

A lifelong Yankees fan, Mr. Johnson was a season ticketholder. Starting “in the bleachers and moving our way down,” Ms. Gordon said, finally settling on season tickets right by the field behind first base. Given seats in the owner’s box, right behind the plate, he went to his last game a few weeks before he died. The Yankees won.

Mr. Johnson also enjoyed gardening, particularly his rosebushes. “Some guys were on the golf course every weekend. He was in his rose garden,” Ms. Gordon said.

“He was a kind, loyal man who collected friends throughout his life, and always saw the good in people,” she said. She would try to jokingly goad him to say something, anything, negative about someone, but he never would. “He was just a good guy who supported other people.”

Besides his wife and daughters, Mr. Johnson is survived by five sisters and a brother. They are Cheryl Johnson of Bridgewater, Conn., Deborah Nash of Plattsburgh, N.Y., Kim Niforos of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Lea Ann Richards of Fairlawn, N.J., Sandra Leslie of Monsey, N.Y., and Christopher Johnson of Clifton Park, N.Y.

A funeral service took place at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church on July 18. The family said donations in his memory would be appropriate to any organization dedicated to fighting the disease named for Lou Gehrig, the Yankees great who died after contracting it in the prime of his career.

  The organizations suggested were alscenter.org, als.net, TheAngelFund.org, or the Frates ALS Research and Support Fund.