Grover Lee Johnson

Grover was born March 10, 1929, at home on a farm near Gonzales, TX, to parents Grover Cleveland Johnson and Evie Lee Simmons. Grover was the youngest in a family with four brothers and one sister. On his own since the age of fourteen, it was necessary for him to live separately from his family to continue his schooling. After graduating from Gonzales High School, an event he almost missed due to crash-landing an airplane, he left Gonzales for the Texas coast to become a shrimper. He departed from that occupation after one day due to seasickness and the smell.

Grover hitchhiked to San Antonio where he used his last few cents to buy a newspaper that advertised a job on a seismograph crew. His new employers bought him a bus ticket to Eldorado, where he met his future wife, Tommye Wilson. That amazing young lady captured his heart and brought out the best in Grover. They married September 20, 1947, and embarked on a 64-year adventure, moving thirteen times around West Texas working for the Shell Oil Company, leaving a trail of friendships that they never stopped maintaining. Grover embodied the ideals of his generation, and Tommye helped him develop and live out those fine qualities—integrity, absolute honesty, faith in his Creator, and a straightforward approach to all the situations and characters that life presented.

Grover was proud to serve his country from 1952 to 1954, where he participated in the Sky Wharf Program, stationed on Eleuthera Island. His army buddy, Nolan Applegate, became a life-long friend, and Grover loved Nolan's three girls as his own. Grover returned stateside where he continued to work for Shell Oil Company. Grover retired from Shell as a Master Mechanic after 36 years.

Grover and Tommye then travelled extensively, pulling their Avion trailer through all 50 states, cultivating joy and friendships wherever they went. Grover led elk hunts for over twenty years with the Zink family outfitters in Durango, CO. Grover was also a Master Mason.

Grover lost Tommye in 2011 to cancer. The very next week a long-time friend, Patricia Copeland lost her husband. Left in the same lonely boat, they decided to paddle it together, replacing the loneliness with a marvelous relationship that illuminated the last eight years of both their lives. Grover and Patricia travelled extensively, visiting and continuing to make friends all over North America. Patricia stayed by his side until his last moment.

Grover is survived by his nephews John Cleveland Johnson and wife, Cheryl, TX; Lige Britt Johnson and wife Laurie; goddaughters Sheryl Frederick, Susan Finn, and Sara Piercy of Illinois; Patricia Copeland, the Copeland family, and other nieces, nephews and a host of friends all over the world. They will all cherish their memories of Grover.

A visitation will be held Sunday, June 14 from 3-5 p.m. at Hubbard-Kelley Funeral Home in Odessa, TX. Graveside services will be held at the Schleicher County Cemetery in Eldorado, TX, on Tuesday, June 16, at 11 a.m.

“His Journey’s Just Begun”

Don’t think of him as gone away- his journey’s just begun,

Life holds so many facets- this earth is only one.

Just think of him as resting from the sorrows and the tears

In a place of warmth and comfort where there are no days and years.

Think how he must be wishing that we could know today

How nothing but our sadness can really pass away.

And think of him as living in the hearts of those he touched.

For nothing loved is ever lost-and he was loved so much.

-Ellen Brenneman