Leon James Johnson

He was born in Hood River, Oregon on January 6, 1936 to his loving parents, Hugo and Emma, and raised in Glenwood, Washington in the shadow of Mount Adams. He graduated from Glenwood High School in 1954 and went on to attend Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma majoring in mathematics and physics graduating in 1958.

Jim served in the military from 1958 to 1960. After basic training in Fort Ord, California he spent the remainder of his time in the Army at Red Stone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama at the Army Rocker and Guided Missile Agency (ARGMA) where large rocket engines for NASA were being developed for the Apollo space program and were forerunners of those used in the Space Shuttle boosters.

He began teaching in Quincy, Washington after receiving his teacher certification from Washington State University in 1962. He married his wife, Patricia, in December 1964 and they were married for 59 and a half years. They moved to Eugene, Oregon where he taught and coached at Sheldon High School while getting his master's degree from the University of Oregon in 1966. His first year of teaching and coaching in Morton was the 1967-68 school year.

Jim and Patricia had three children, Christopher, Timothy, and Alison, that were born, raised and graduated in Morton. Christopher graduated from Pacific Lutheran University and lives in Morton. Timothy graduated from Lower Columbia College and Washington State University and lives with his wife, Morgan, and three children in Charlottesville, Virginia. Alison graduated from Pacific Lutheran University and lives with her husband, Kris and three children in Libertyville, Illinois.

Jim had lemon meringue pie for every birthday since childhood and had a sweet tooth for Mentos and ice cream. He liked any flavor as long as it was chocolate. He had a great sense of humor preferring the jokes that took a beat or two to sink in. He had an affinity for the comedy of Tim Conway and would laugh in a way that was impossible to forget. Do yourself a favor and Google "Tim Conway's Elephant Story." He climbed Mount Adams multiple times and enjoyed golfing and going to Marines' games.

Jim coach baseball (27 years), basketball (30 years) and football (two years) at Morton High School and totalled 1,100-plus games. As a baseball coach his teams went 290-214 (.575 winning percentage), winning six league championships, six district championships (in eight tries), and one state championship in 1987. His teams place top-five in the state 10 times (including eight consecutive years from 1985-92). He was inducted into the Washington Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992.

He retired from teaching at Morton in 1997 after 30 years and then taught nine more years of mathematics at Centralia Community College in Centralia (1998-2007). He was preceded in death by his parents and by his older brother, Dale. He is survived by his wife Patricia; sister Kay (Steve) Hoodenpyl from Glenwood, Washington; his three children and six grandchildren, Michael, Campbell, Lauren, Asher, Matthew, and Rowan and numerous nieces and nephews.

Jim enjoyed working on the lawn and garden and often battled the raccoons to protect his corn stalks. He loved card tricks, and spending hours in his wood shop marking various projects including wooden puzzles. He enjoyed creating giant bubbles in the front lawn for his grandchildren and watching their various activities. In the last few years, he enjoyed sitting on the poarch visiting with neighbors and solving Sudoku puzzles. He was a frequent visitor at Morton High School supporting the local sports teams. Jim was also an excellent wiffleball pitcher to his children and grandchildren mixing his "dipsy-doodle" pitch with his "blue-streaker."

The family will have a private graveside service and host a Celebration of Life on a date to be announced. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the Jim Johnson Memorial Scholarship which will be rewarded to future educators.

Our family is forever in debt to Bill and Beth Reynolds and the staff at Heart of Gold for all their help in the recent months.