Phleger has a degree from the University of California, Berkeley. After her collegiate career ended, she worked as a teacher at a Montessori nursey school in California.
She comes from a well-known family
A former debutante, Phleger is the daughter of Jean Phleger and the late lawyer Atherton Macondray Phleger, who was also a Wells Fargo board member until his death in 1988. Phleger’s grandfather, Herman Phleger, was a U.S. delegate to the United Nations and a founder of the law firm Brobeck, Phleger and Harrison.
The Phleger name is also affiliated with the Phleger Estate, a public park in San Mateo County, California. Following the death of Herman in 1984, his wife, Mary Elena Phleger initiated plans for their estate to be turned into public grounds, according to the National Parks Service. The park includes redwood trees and hiking trails.
Johnson and Phleger met at a party
Phleger and Johnson first met in the mid-90s. They were reportedly introduced by producer Jo Schuman Silver at a birthday party for then-San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, but didn’t start dating until the fall of 1997.
“Don came up to me at Willie’s birthday party and said that the minute he laid eyes on Kelley, he knew he was going to marry her,” Schuman Silver recalled to PEOPLE in 1999. “I don’t know what she thought, but I’m sure she found him very attractive.”
In April 1998, Phleger was spotted wearing a 5 1/2-carat diamond engagement ring. They got engaged in Aspen, Colorado, per the San Francisco Examiner.
They got married in 1999
Johnson and Phleger got married on April 29, 1999, at the home of Ann and Gordon Getty in San Francisco, where Phleger is from. However, the couple kept their plans to wed a secret from their 85 guests, as the invitation for the evening alluded to nothing more than a black-tie affair of dinner and dancing to celebrate the actor and his fiancée.
They hosted the ceremony in a courtyard, with the bride wearing an off-white Chanel princess gown embroidered with butterflies. Brown officiated the ceremony, while actor Robert Wagner was Johnson’s best man. Johnson’s daughter Dakota and son Jesse were also in the wedding party.
“Don exuded happiness,” a friend of the newlyweds told PEOPLE after the wedding. “The expression on his face will stay in my mind forever.”
Phleger previously dated Gavin Newsom
Phleger and Johnson have three children together, whom they raised in Santa Barbara, California. Their oldest, Atherton Grace Johnson, who goes by Grace, was born on Dec. 28, 1999. Grace studied photography at the University of Southern California and has worked as a model, walking the runway in a 2021 Gucci show.
The couple’s second child, Jasper Breckenridge Johnson, was born on June 6, 2002. While he has been less in the spotlight than his older sibling, he is known to have had an interest in sports and played basketball in high school before graduating in 2021.
Their youngest child, Deacon James Johnson, was born on April 29, 2006, which happened to be the same day as Phleger and Johnson’s seventh wedding anniversary. Like his siblings, Deacon grew up in Santa Barbara and has a passion for music and sports.
They share sweet moments on social media
Both Johnson and Phleger give followers a glimpse of their home life on their Instagram accounts. On Father’s Day in 2023, Phleger posted a throwback photo of Johnson with their children from 2006.
“Happy Fathers Day DJ!” she wrote in the caption. “Thank you for all you have done for our beautiful family.”
The prior year, for Mother’s Day, Johnson shared a picture of Phleger and wrote, “The BEST!!! The Mother of all mother’s! And funny as all get out! Love you so… 🌹.”
