William Howard Johnson

Billy was born on December 16th, 1934 to Essie Mae and William Johnson of Adamsville, AL.

Billy was one of 9 siblings in what is affectionately called “The Great Johnson Family.” He was always the LIFE of the party anywhere he went, always smiling, always happy, always went with the flow.

He served in the Navy, including multiple tours in Vietnam flying combat missions with HAL-3, otherwise known as the SeaWolves. As an M60 door gunner he was shot down twice, and the crew survived each crash fighting their way back to base. No doubt he saved many American lives over the years. He earned two purple hearts and a bronze star. He was also inducted into the Enlisted Combat Aircrew Roll of Honor. After his 20-year military service he had a number of different careers. He was a talented carpenter and could build almost anything. He loved flying and earned a private pilot’s license. He and his son (David) designed and built an ultralight aircraft and were awarded the Outstanding Design of the Year in 1979 from the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA).

One of his greatest loves, other than Braves Baseball was playing the guitar and singing with other musicians, especially his 3 brothers. The four brothers were known as the Johnson Brothers Quartet.

He is preceded in death by his sisters Bobbie Banks and Flora Ruth (Foff) Cruce and brother Burleigh Johnson, as well as two grandchildren, Dalton Meade and Nicholas Johnson. He is survived by his children David Johnson (Anne), Donna Johnson Herring (Charles), Linda Johnson Dillon (Mike), Tracy Johnson, and Michael Johnson (Kemberlee); his grandchildren Adam Johnson (Lindsey), Lindsay Johnson, Jacob Herring (Amanda), Amanda Herring, Emily Fitts (Nathan), Andrew Maxwell (Tiffany), Ashlyn Lewis (Justin), Kristal Meade, Clay Meade, and Micheal Johnson; siblings Muriel (Nodie) Mortensen, Carolyn Johnson (Be), Ann Handley (Ottis), Steve Johnson (Dora), and Randy Johnson (Pam); as well as 8 great grandchildren and a multitude of nieces, nephews, cousins, and loving friends.

Visitation will be at Southern Heritage Funeral Home on October 25th, 2021 at 11:30am with funeral service beginning at 12:30pm, followed by burial with military honors at Alabama National Cemetery at 2:00pm. If desired friends may make contributions to https://www.garysinisefoundation.org/donate or https://www.support.woundedwarriorproject.org/donate