Name: Miller Jones Mortuary Hemet
Address: Hemet, CA

Remembering Philip Hale Johnson

	News Item: Phillip Hale Johnson, 73, of Hemet, CA son of Orvis (Johnny) and Mary Johnson died May 20, 2014 in Hemet. A Military graveside service was June 6 at Riverside (CA) National Cemetery.

	My mother Dorothy P. Jordan and Mrs. Johnson shared the same birth date-Jan. 17. His parents would often visit our home in Melrose, MA., at Candlewood Lake, CT and in Flagler Beach, Fl.. 
	Mr. Johnson always said Phil was a born salesman.
	I became friends with him at the Calvin Coolidge Junior High School, Melrose, and among my memories is that he never forgot any of his fellow students from the Horace Mann Elementary School. Phil made friends easily through life.
	In retrospect, I thought that Phil would be a model for clothing for periodicals like Gentlemen Quarterly (GQ). That was not to be.
	When my mother and I would visit Mrs. Johnson in Mt. Dora, Fla, I would always look at the display of pictures of his (former) wife, Barbara (Hall) Johnson* and their daughter, Katie.
	As his obituary read: “Phillip Johnson touched many lives and will be truly missed by a host of extended family members and friends and all those who were honored to know him.”
	When he came east for those Melrose High School Class of 1959 reunions, he came with a smile, a warm handshake and that twinkle in his eye of friendship. 
	More than that, he came with an address book filled with names from the past. He made it a point to reach out and re-connect with many of his friends. 
	A Vietnam veteran, he loved his family, dogs and horses …now as I look at the website (http://millerjonesfh.frontrunnerpro.com/book-of-memories/1874510/Phillip-Johnson/obituary.php) noting his framed pictures with music, I think back to a time in Melrose when we had ideas and ideals about our own futures. 
	Many of us go down separate paths only to once again be connected through family outings and reunions.
	I think that Phil Johnson was a special person because he connected with people through the maze of life-during both good and bad times.
	I pause and say: “Thanks Phil because you never forgot your past from the early days in Detroit, MI to an early life in Melrose and beyond.
	“Also you remained connected with your sister, Anne Olsthoorn of Mesa, AZ, and her children.
	“Yet you were eternally devoted to your mother who lived in Mt. Dora, Fl. after your father died.”
	Today we go forward. 
	Tomorrow (September) we’ll meet once again as a class for our 55th Reunion and reflect for the moment on those present and those we have loss. 
	I tip my hat to you-Philip Hale Johnson. 
	You helped make my days in Melrose more pleasant and rewarding.-George C. Jordan III
	*Co-incidentally they (Barbara & Phil) both were from Melrose, but did not meet until they were on a TWA flight headed west-she a stewardess and he a passenger. He recognized her initially as her sister, Ann, and the rest is history.

The three loves of Phil's life were his mom, his daughter, and his dogs I was friends with Phil for a few years and he always talked about his mom, his daughter, Katie and her family, and the dogs who have been part of his life. Phil was the leader of the very first group of soldiers and military dogs that were shipped over to Vietnam. He told me so many stories of the amazing things that the dogs did including saving many, many soldiers. Phil was a very driven person who was a hard worker and had great business sense. He was very successful in business and after I met him, he helped me and seven of my colleagues break away from the firm we were working in to start a southern California office for another firm. He was very wise and provided invaluable assistance to us. He was also very compassionate about dogs and horses. I first met him at a cow sorting event in Norco and we became great friends. He loved watching sorting and reining events and he had many friends in the horse world, including Jimmy Flores Sr. who we would visit often just to shoot the breeze. During the time I knew him, he adopted a German Shepherd named Gin, who he trained to find desert tortoises in the wild as part of a pilot program to use dogs in this type of survey. He loved that dog and she absolutely worshiped him. He also loved his Jack Russell Terrier, Spencer, who went everywhere with him. Phil always talked about how much he loved spending time with his family and friends. He will be sorely missed but I know he has been reunited in Heaven with his mom and all of the working and companion dogs he had in his life. I can just imagine the huge smile on his face. Rest in peace Phil.

I am sorry for your loss please accept my deepest sympathy. I hope you will find your strength and comfort in Jesus promises of the earthly resurrection(:Acts 24:15) and the renewed Paradise earth, where death will be no more and no family will have to mourn the death of a loved one.-Revelation 21:3,4; Luke 23:43. May GOD(Psalms 83:18) grant you peace and comfort now during this grievous time.-Matthew 5:4.

AVIS DE DÉCÈS

Phillip Hale Johnson

27 novembre 1940 – 20 mai 2014

Miller Jones Mortuary and Crematory

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