Amber Johnston; Lifelong Area Resident

Newbury Park resident Amber Johnston died at home Wednesday following a long battle with cancer. She was 34.

Johnston was born Sept. 28, 1964, in Van Nuys. She grew up in Agoura Hills and graduated from Agoura High School.

While living in Agoura Hills, Johnston met her future husband, David. The couple were married Oct. 18, 1987.

Johnston majored in real estate and finance at California State University Northridge, and graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in 1989.

In 1993, the couple bought a house at the base of the Santa Monica Mountains in Newbury Park. They had their only child, Taylor Marie, in 1998.

Johnston worked as a property manager at a Calabasas firm before going to work at her husband’s insurance agency in Westlake Village. Johnston handled the agency’s marketing.

Johnston enjoyed camping, water- and snow-skiing and the outdoors, her husband said.

“She was a wonderful, high-spirited person. She was like a ray of sunshine,” he said. “She always managed to have a smile on her face.”

Johnston was a member of Calvary Community Church in Westlake Village.

In addition to her husband and daughter, Johnston is survived by her parents, Mike and Karen Galloway of Agoura; a brother, Steve Galloway of Agoura; grandmothers Ruth Galloway of Thousand Oaks and Helen Herd of Colton; and several nieces, nephews and cousins.

A service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at Calvary Community Church, with interment to follow at Pierce Bros. Valley Oaks Cemetery in Westlake Village.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial contributions be made to the Wellness Community--Valley/Ventura in Westlake Village, a nonprofit organization that helps people with cancer.