Victor William Johnston

Victor William Johnston entered into life in Mexicali, Mexico on August 3, 1949 and entered into rest in Dallas, TX on February 5, 2021. He will always be remembered for the wonderfully loving and supportive person he was, for his happy spirit and silly nature, and for his sense of humor.

He was the son of John William Johnston and Victoria Hernandez Johnston. Victor is survived by his wife, Ana Rosa Johnston: His children: Roxanne and Jonathan Johnston; His grandchildren:Alexa and Juliana Garcia; His Siblings: Lolita Villareal; Rudy, Alan, and Beatriz Johnston. He was preceded in death by his parents and his oldest sister Graciela “Chela” Johnston.

Victor spent the early years of his life growing up in Laredo Texas. The family later moved to California. He attended Hollywood High School. He had a dream of becoming an actor and participated in theatre and performed in several plays.

After High School, Victor joined the U.S. Army and served a tour in Germany. After his military service, he graduated from the 107th Class of the Border Patrol and later transferred to Los Angeles as a Criminal Investigator (Special Agent). In 1982, he transferred to Dallas and became an Immigration Examiner. A year later he was promoted to Special Agent of the Anti-smuggling Unit. Soon after he became a Staffer for the Assistant Regional Commissioner at the Southern Regional office of Investigations.

In 1987, he was selected to serve at the office of International Affairs in Mexico City. A few months later, he transferred to the Consulate in Guadalajara to serve as Officer in Charge (OIC) of Immigration. Five years later served as OIC in Oklahoma City, and finally OIC at the Embassy in El Salvador before retiring in 2000.

You would think he would finally slow down but he couldn’t stay still for one minute. He went to Africa for a year as a contractor to train the National Police. This was followed by a contracting job as an instructor for the Federal Police in San Luis Potosi, Mexico in 2009. Finally, he was contracted as an instructor at the Criminal Investigations School in Honduras around 2011-12.

But wait…. then he decided he wanted to get involved in the restaurant business…...…

As you can see, Victor had an industrious nature that started early in life. It may have started at age 5, when his father passed, leaving his family without income. At that time, his family was living in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. At that young age, he felt he needed to step up to the plate to help his family. Feeling that sense of responsibility, he offered to watch people’s cars, and sold chiclets in the streets. He also discovered that if he were to stand under the international bridge, that he could yell up to the pedestrians above to throw down coins, and many of them did. Later in his childhood, after the family moved to Laredo, Texas, he would shine shoes and sell newspapers to help out his family.

Victor loved his family and was a devoted family man. His love was deep and enduring, but he was also the kind of person who never gave up in general. No matter what obstacles he might encounter, he always had a positive attitude. There was nothing he couldn’t or wouldn’t do. He had a bucket list and one of those was riding his bike around the perimeter of the U.S. He did get a chance to ride the West Coast from the Mexican border to the Canadian border. He endured the many hours of pedaling up and down mountains and hills, with aching muscles, through rain, cold and heat. At one point he was run off the road by a driver in a pick-up truck. But he persisted and did not give up.

He was planning his next bike ride adventure along the Southern Border, but he didn’t get a chance to fulfill that dream

As much as he was persistent, he also loved having fun in general. He was an adventurer, a traveler and a wannabe comedian. He was a social butterfly! He could talk your ear off.

One of the most lovable things about Victor was that he also cared deeply about people, always lending a helping hand. He would give his last dollar to someone in need. He would help you fix your leaky faucet or broken dishwasher or change your light bulb. He would cut the neighbor’s lawn when he cut his own or bring their trash can up from the curb after trash day. He was known for his knowledge of immigration law and helped many people with immigration issues. Whatever you needed help with, all you had to do was ask and he was there.

Víctor was indestructible. Once when he was about 5 years old, he was struck by a car and thrown against a telephone pole. He was stunned by it, but he just got up and ran home. Later in life he was in a motorcycle accident while commuting to work on a Los Angeles freeway but he came out of it with minor scrapes and bruises. Nothing could take him down. But in the early morning hours of February 5th he passed away due to complications from Pneumonia.

Funeral services will be held at Saint Michael Catholic Church in Bedford and following the inurnment at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery.