James H. Johnson

James (Jim) H. Johnson, age 91 of Bellbrook and Centerville, passed away Wednesday, November 11, 2020 at Lincoln Park Manor Nursing Home. He was born March 21, 1929 in Hornersville, MO, the son of the late Joseph Franklin (buried in Hayti, Mo) and Effie Gibson Johnson (buried in Dexter, MO).

Along with his parents and in-laws (Jesse & Idamae Keeton), he is preceded in death by his devoted and loving wife of 69 years, Betty S. (Edney-Keeton) Johnson and all of his siblings (Lester, Mildred, Ivory (Ivy), Edward Conrad (E.C.), Norval, JW (Jim's closest sibling), and Henrietta (Jim's twin; stillborn), beloved nieces, nephews and far too many friends and extended family.

Jim is survived by his son, Brad Johnson and husband, Russ Luke; former daughter-in-law, Sally Ceselski and husband Bernie French, grandchildren, Brayden, Seth and Megan; along with many nieces, nephews and other extended family members and friends.

Jim was born the youngest member of a close-knit sharecropper farming family in Southeast Missouri at the beginning of the Great Depression. They lived in a non-insulated wood-plank farmhouse without running water or electricity. They survived winters by hunting and what food they could put by in the cellar from each harvest. Life was hard. Jim's father was suddenly, and tragically, killed in 1940 when a drunk driver ran into the back of his mule-drawn wagon filled with containers of kerosene for the farm. Jim's twin sister, Henrietta, was stillborn and buried somewhere on the farm. Jim spent the rest of his life trying to locate her unmarked grave so as to give her the recognition he felt she deserved. Due to his responsibilities on the farm, Jim left school as a sophomore and never completed high school.

At the end of WWII, he and JW were the only kids left on the farm with their mom, and, they were having a hard time making ends meet. So, in the late 1940's, Jim and his mother moved to California. After working as a ranch hand, Jim decided to serve his country and joined the U.S. Navy. As a sixteen year-old, his mother would not let him sign-up to serve during WWII, so he entered service between WWII and The Korean War. After serving in the fleet, he was assigned to The Naval Aircraft Electrician's School in Memphis, TN. One of Jim's first jobs was working to hardwire and bring electrical service to their corner of rural Missouri.

While in Memphis and dating a particular girl, Peggy, Jim was introduced to her best friend, Betty, at the county fair in Caruthersville, MO. They married on January 12, 1951 with Betty's mother, the Rev. Idamae Keeton, an ordained minister, officiating. In 1953, Jim was selected and approved as an Electrical Engineering "special student" (lacking the requisite high school diploma) at the Missouri School of Mining and Metallurgy (now the University of Missouri S&T) in Rolla, MO. He worked hard and was graduated with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering in 1957. He was then offered the opportunity to teach and pursue his Master's degree; he was graduated with a M.S. in Electrical Engineering in 1960. They lived in many parts of the country but eventually settled in Dayton, OH when Jim took a job at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. He wrote an Electrical Engineering textbook which was used for over a decade in colleges nationwide.

Jim left academia for the private sector in the mid-1960's. He spent his career as an electronic warfare professional liaising between industry and the military (especially the USAF and USN). He worked for and with Texas Instruments, Varian, Raytheon, Systran Federal, Rockwell, and Litton. He saw his work as a patriotic commitment to keeping Americans, and America's troops, safe.

Betty and Jim were the first generation of "soccer moms" and "soccer dads". Knowing nothing about soccer, Jim began coaching Brad's team in S.A.Y. Soccer in Centerville, OH in 1970. They remained soccer fans through Brad's years at Earlham College when they attended home games in Richmond, IN or anywhere else nearby. After calling Centerville, "home", for decades, Jim and Betty moved to eastern Bellbrook where they lived for seventeen years. They, thoroughly, enjoyed this home and developed a beautiful garden and yard in the back. No matter where they called home, Jim and Betty always had an adopted racoon family who they, dutifully, fed and spoiled nightly. As a couple, they were so cute asking for a "racoon box" at restaurants!

Nearer the end of their lives, for two years, they and their cat lived in a great apartment at One Lincoln Park in Kettering, OH. They made new friends, loved the food, and Dad tore up the hallways there on his cherry red electric scooter! Eventually, they both required more advanced care at Lincoln Park Manor. The staff at both facilities were excellent. Due to the coronavirus, sadly, we were only able to have "window visits" with Dad from March until his death on Veteran's Day.

Betty and Jim had seven decades together on this earth. They were dedicated to their faith, their family and their country. They found a wonderful church and church family at what was then called Dayton-Bethel Temple (Bethel Christian AOG). They worshipped here and were very active members from 1961 until they could, physically, no longer attend. Jim and Betty shared a fantastic love for one another and were the epitome of a compassionate, generous, Christian couple throughout their lifetimes. Now, they are together again after a brief earthly separation following Betty's passing in January.

Family will receive local guests from 10-11 am on Saturday, November 28, 2020 at Newcomer Centerville Chapel, 820 Miamisburg Centerville Road. Service will immediately follow at 11 am and conclude with procession to Bellbrook Cemetery for burial. Due to the coronavirus, the service will be live-streamed on Brad Johnson's Facebook page. Photographs and the obituary will be available in perpetuity at: Newcomerdayton.com. Memorial Contributions may be made to: Youth For Christ P.O. Box 1076, Champaign, IL 62821.

The State of Ohio is under a mandatory mask order and has required that face mask will be worn in all public places. Due to the elevated coronavirus risk, the family requests that those out-of-state do not make the trip though the sentiment is much appreciated. For those locally, social distancing and mask-wearing will be observed even though it will be difficult and unnatural. For everyone's safety, please consider viewing the service on FB Live Stream.

To share a memory of James or leave a special message for his family, please visit the guestbook below. Please share.

The State of Ohio is under a mandatory mask order and has required that face mask will be worn in all public places.